Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0Households in Marshall earn less than those in 82% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, where Missouri as a whole has 13%. Poverty touches 17.1% of residents, against 12.6% across Missouri. Marshall grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Marshall and work: the main findings
Commutes from Marshall are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Marshall workers work from home
Only 4% 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’s behind Marshall’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Marshall is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #179 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Marshall’s grade up (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($54,437, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Marshall could be anywhere from D to C+.
The trip to work from Marshall: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marshall workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,025 commuters (the 4% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Marshall
On a workday 3,190 residents head out to work, 2,423 work right here, and 3,608 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 (1.07 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.
5% of working residents work in Columbia
Where Marshall clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Marshall
6,031 jobs are based in Marshall.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marshall, 2013 → 2023: 6,927 → 6,031. 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 Marshall’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Marshall commutes less than 7 miles
About 27% 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.
Marshall is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marshall is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #45 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Marshall 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 6,264 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). 6.1% of Marshall households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Marshall’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000, Marshall ranks 1,946th of 2,227 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Crestwood MO | 12,207 | $107K | 5.5% | 1.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,944 | Weirton WV | 18,133 | $60K | 12.6% | 7.1% | 29% | C− |
| 1,945 | Bayou Blue LA | 12,218 | $64K | 23.9% | 5.3% | 2% | C− |
| 1,946 | Marshall MO | 13,766 | $54K | 17.1% | 4.1% | 43% | C− |
| 1,947 | Glasgow KY | 15,302 | $43K | 21.9% | 4.3% | 39% | C− |
| 1,948 | Conway NH | 10,308 | $64K | 8.0% | 8.3% | 44% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Marshall, 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 Marshall: questions
What is the median household income in Marshall?
$54,437 (±$4,627) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marshall?
17.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marshall?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marshall work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (5%, 48 mi), Sedalia (4%, 28 mi), Kansas City (4%, 72 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Marshall walkable?
Marshall is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marshall without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marshall, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marshall
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.