Waddell House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Lexington (7.4%) is higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Lexington for work; outside it, Kansas City is the main destination (14%, 37 miles). For jobs and income Lexington is better than 12% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (B). Measured by household income, Lexington is behind 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lexington, in brief
Lexington’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lexington is Kansas City, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (250) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Lexington are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Lexington is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 5% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Lexington
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lexington’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lexington could be anywhere from D− to C+.
The commute from Lexington, by distance
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.
About 19 minutes to work from Lexington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lexington workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,695 commuters (the 8% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1,430 jobs are based in Lexington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lexington, 2013 → 2023: 1,726 → 1,430. 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 Lexington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Lexington on a workday
On a workday 1,600 residents head out to work, 249 work right here, and 1,181 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 (0.77 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.
Where people from Lexington work
Where Lexington clocks in
14% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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.
For most of Lexington, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 1,838 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). 8.0% of Lexington households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lexington’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lexington is 3,541st of 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | 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 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,539 | Lake Panasoffkee FL | 4,768 | $45K | 30.5% | 4.6% | 2% | D |
| 3,540 | Iowa Falls IA | 5,013 | $50K | 10.7% | 9.1% | 39% | D |
| 3,541 | Lexington MO | 4,568 | $57K | 17.0% | 7.4% | 13% | D |
| 3,542 | Windsor Township MO | 3,454 | $52K | 23.3% | 4.7% | 24% | D |
| 3,543 | Sullivan City TX | 3,891 | $44K | 32.1% | 7.0% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | 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 Lexington, 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 Lexington: questions
What is the median household income in Lexington?
$56,905 (±$12,226) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lexington?
17.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lexington?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lexington work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (14%, 37 mi), Higginsville (9%, 11 mi), Independence (5%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lexington walkable?
Lexington is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lexington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lexington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lexington
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.