Licking has lower household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Licking D−; getting around on foot earns it B. 37.5% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. About one in seven stay in Licking for work; outside it, Rolla is the main destination (8%, 31 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Licking apart
Licking is where the jobs are
Licking has 986 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
44% 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 ↓
Licking’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Licking is Rolla, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (48) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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; with 585 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Licking earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Licking is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #247 of 247 in Missouri. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Licking’s grade.
Unemployment (20.4%) is left out: Licking’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Licking stays D−.
Licking by day and by night
On a workday 494 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 895 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Licking on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far Licking goes to work
About 44% 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.
The daily trip into Licking
Where Licking clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
What the 986 jobs in Licking are
986 jobs are based in Licking.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Licking, 2013 → 2023: 1,171 → 986. 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 Licking’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Licking: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Licking workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 513 commuters (the 10% 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.
For most of Licking, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Licking is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #123 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Licking near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 573 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). 6.7% of Licking households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Licking’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, and where Licking sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,589 | Hamburg AR | 2,364 | $34K | 32.5% | 4.4% | 19% | D− |
| 4,590 | Weed CA | 2,603 | $39K | 33.6% | 11.7% | 26% | D− |
| 4,591 | Licking MO | 2,958 | $36K | 37.5% | 20.4% | 16% | D− |
| 4,592 | Tabor City NC | 3,886 | $39K | 32.9% | 10.2% | 14% | D− |
| 4,593 | Allendale SC | 2,427 | $24K | 45.1% | 2.3% | 10% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Licking, 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 Licking: questions
What is the median household income in Licking?
$35,652 (±$9,232) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Licking?
37.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Licking?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Licking work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rolla (8%, 31 mi), Houston (6%, 14 mi), Springfield (5%, 81 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Licking walkable?
Licking is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Licking without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Licking, from the people who make the trip.
More of Licking
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.