Photo: Chiefs190 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Liberty have higher incomes than those in 66% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Liberty itself; outside it, Kansas City draws the most (33%, 11 miles). 7.0% of residents live below the poverty line, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. The two grades for Liberty are B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Liberty apart on work
Inside Liberty’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Liberty is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #66 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Liberty’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Liberty could be anywhere from B to A.
Where Liberty’s working residents head each day
Where Liberty clocks in
33% of workers
4% 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.
Liberty on a workday afternoon
On a workday 12,305 residents head out to work, 2,683 work right here, and 17,557 people come in from elsewhere.
About 37,000 people are in Liberty on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
The 20,240 jobs based in Liberty
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Liberty, 2013 → 2023: 16,376 → 20,240. 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 Liberty’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Liberty’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Liberty workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,660 commuters (the 16% 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.
Where in the region Liberty works
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.
The commute in Liberty is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Liberty is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #147 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 15,058 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 24% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.9% of Liberty households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Liberty’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Liberty is 592nd among 1,334 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Wildwood MO | 34,955 | $161K | 2.2% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Ballwin MO | 30,901 | $125K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Kirkwood MO | 29,331 | $121K | 5.3% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 590 | Fountain Hills AZ | 23,625 | $113K | 6.2% | 5.3% | 14% | B+ |
| 591 | Independence KY | 30,198 | $102K | 8.8% | 4.3% | 4% | B+ |
| 592 | Liberty MO | 31,319 | $89K | 7.0% | 4.5% | 18% | B+ |
| 593 | Shields Township IL | 41,282 | $113K | 9.8% | 5.4% | 13% | B+ |
| 594 | Milford MA | 30,832 | $96K | 7.6% | 5.0% | 16% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Liberty, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Liberty and its neighbors: 36% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Liberty workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | – | B+ | B | 23 min | $88,542 |
| Kansas City | 33% | B− | A | 22 min | $69,166 |
| Claycomo | 3% | C | B+ | 18 min | $49,343 |
| Pleasant Valley | under 2% | A | B− | 23 min | $75,682 |
| River Bend | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. River Bend: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kansas City. Darker towns draw more of Liberty’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 Liberty: questions
What is the median household income in Liberty?
$88,542 (±$9,001) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Liberty?
7.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Liberty?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Liberty work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (33%, 11 mi), North Kansas City (4%, 10 mi), Independence (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Liberty walkable?
Liberty is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Liberty without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Liberty, from the people who make the trip.
More of Liberty
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.