Watkins Mill · Photo: Watkins_Mill,_County_Highway_MM,_Lawson_vicinity_(Clay_County,_Missouri).jpg: Jet Lowe, Photographer derivative work: Kbh3rd · Public domainMost of Lawson commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Lawson report 427 jobs, against 1,164 working residents. Lawson grades B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 6% stay in Lawson for work; outside it, Kansas City is the main destination (22%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lawson at work: what stands out
Lawson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lawson is Kansas City, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (259) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lawson
64% of Lawson residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in Lawson pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Lawson pay little
28% of the jobs based in Lawson pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
Lawson’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lawson is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #103 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Lawson’s grade up (2.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($65,941, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lawson could be anywhere from C− to B+.
How far Lawson goes to work
About 15% 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.
What Lawson’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lawson, 2013 → 2023: 484 → 427. 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 Lawson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lawson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,096 residents head out to work, 68 work right here, and 359 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Lawson on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Lawson’s working residents head each day
Where Lawson clocks in
22% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Lawson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lawson workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,071 commuters (the 15% 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.
Few in Lawson walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lawson is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #198 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 1,258 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). 1.5% of Lawson households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lawson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lawson is 2,177th of 4,868 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 48 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,175 | Marlborough NH | 2,201 | $69K | 13.2% | 0.4% | 3% | B− |
| 2,176 | Agua Dulce CA | 2,828 | $146K | 13.7% | 9.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,177 | Lawson MO | 2,541 | $66K | 12.7% | 2.6% | 6% | B− |
| 2,178 | Jamestown Township IN | 3,263 | $76K | 6.1% | 5.2% | 5% | B− |
| 2,179 | Venice Township MI | 2,424 | $66K | 13.8% | 2.9% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Lawson, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
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 Lawson: questions
What is the median household income in Lawson?
$65,941 (±$2,603) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lawson?
12.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lawson?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lawson work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (22%, 28 mi), Excelsior Springs (9%, 6 mi), Liberty (9%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lawson walkable?
Lawson is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lawson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lawson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lawson
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.