Harry Truman Birthplace Memorial · Photo: Karen Montgomery · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Lamar are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers; Missouri has 13%. Below the poverty line: 32.6% of residents (Missouri 12.6%). Jobs and income earn Lamar C; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lamar
Lamar trades workers with the towns around it
Lamar has about as many jobs (2,008) as working residents (1,840), but they are mostly different people: 1,287 residents leave for work each day while 1,455 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Lamar are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Lamar workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Lamar gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lamar is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #168 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Lamar’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($36,705, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lamar could be anywhere from C− to C.
The daily commute in and out of Lamar
On a workday 1,287 residents head out to work, 553 work right here, and 1,455 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.09 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Lamar, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lamar workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,605 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Lamar’s commute, mile by mile
About 30% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
7% of working residents work in Joplin
Where Lamar clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Inside Lamar’s 2,008 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lamar, 2013 → 2023: 2,280 → 2,008. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lamar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Lamar walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lamar is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #196 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.2% across Missouri.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,639 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.9% of Lamar households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lamar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,136 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,900, Lamar comes 3,167th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 240 | Weldon Spring MO | 5,301 | $159K | 0.7% | 4.2% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,165 | Quincy Township PA | 5,283 | $63K | 10.4% | 6.8% | 7% | C |
| 3,166 | Springfield KY | 3,033 | $49K | 10.3% | 5.5% | 27% | C |
| 3,167 | Lamar MO | 4,337 | $37K | 32.6% | 0.0% | 30% | C |
| 3,168 | Wildwood Crest NJ | 3,000 | $69K | 9.6% | 10.7% | 10% | C |
| 3,169 | Brodhead WI | 3,214 | $50K | 14.9% | 5.2% | 19% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,136 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lamar, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Lamar and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lamar workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar | – | C | C+ | 22 min | $36,705 |
| City Township | under 2% | C | C+ | 22 min | $36,705 |
| Lamar Heights | 2% | — | — | 10 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lamar Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lamar Heights. Darker towns draw more of Lamar’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lamar: questions
What is the median household income in Lamar?
$36,705 (±$9,573) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lamar?
32.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lamar?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lamar work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joplin (7%, 31 mi), Springfield (6%, 58 mi), Nevada (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lamar walkable?
Lamar is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lamar without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lamar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lamar
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.