Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Matthews has 4.0 jobs for every working resident: 678 people commute in to work
The average commute takes 20 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. There are 685 jobs in Matthews, and 171 of its residents work somewhere. Only 4% stay in Matthews for work; outside it, Sikeston is the main destination (38%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Matthews
On a workday 164 residents head out to work and 7 work right here.
About 1,000 people are in Matthews on a workday afternoon, 104% more than live here.
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 towns that send workers to Matthews
Where Matthews clocks in
38% of workers
7% 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.
The kinds of work in Matthews
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Matthews, 2013 → 2023: 333 → 685. 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 Matthews’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 20 minutes to work from Matthews
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Matthews workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 152 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.
Half of Matthews commutes less than 12 miles
About 16% 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.
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 Matthews: questions
What is the median household income in Matthews?
$42,695 (±$16,562) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Matthews?
14.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Matthews?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Matthews work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sikeston (38%, 9 mi), Cape Girardeau (7%, 38 mi), New Madrid (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Matthews without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Matthews, from the people who make the trip.
More of Matthews
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.