Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Malden’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
2% of workers have no commute at all, next to 13% for Missouri as a whole. Below the poverty line: 30.1% of residents (Missouri 12.6%). For jobs and income Malden is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Malden, in brief
Malden trades workers with the towns around it
Malden has about as many jobs (1,170) as working residents (1,344), but they are mostly different people: 1,101 residents leave for work each day while 927 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in Malden are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Malden workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Malden’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Few Malden 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 ↓
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 Malden
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Malden’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Malden could be anywhere from D− to D.
Malden by day and by night
On a workday 1,101 residents head out to work, 243 work right here, and 927 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 (0.87 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 kinds of work in Malden
1,170 jobs are based in Malden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Malden, 2013 → 2023: 1,440 → 1,170. 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 Malden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Malden: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Malden workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,300 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.
12% of working residents work in Dexter
Where Malden clocks in
12% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Malden
About 23% 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.
For most of Malden, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 1,328 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). 8.4% of Malden households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Malden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Malden next to U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,441 | Soperton GA | 2,994 | $33K | 24.9% | 8.9% | 14% | D− |
| 4,442 | Lucedale MS | 3,232 | $41K | 40.0% | 7.4% | 29% | D− |
| 4,443 | Malden MO | 3,493 | $40K | 30.1% | 9.6% | 18% | D− |
| 4,444 | Union Springs AL | 3,091 | $26K | 41.3% | 8.9% | 25% | D− |
| 4,445 | Oasis CA | 4,051 | $39K | 34.7% | 16.3% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | 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 Malden, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Malden and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Malden workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malden | – | D− | B+ | 22 min | $40,118 |
| Cotton Hill Township | under 3% | D− | B | 22 min | $47,096 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Malden’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 Malden: questions
What is the median household income in Malden?
$40,118 (±$7,486) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Malden?
30.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Malden?
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 Malden work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dexter (12%, 13 mi), Poplar Bluff (6%, 26 mi), Cape Girardeau (4%, 55 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Malden walkable?
Malden is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Malden 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 Malden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Malden
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.