Merriam Woods has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 43 jobs in Merriam Woods, against 810 working residents. For jobs and income Merriam Woods is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (C+). Measured by household income, Merriam Woods is behind 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Merriam Woods apart on work
Merriam Woods is a place people come home to
There are 43 jobs based in Merriam Woods, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Merriam Woods has about 1,300 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Merriam Woods works in Branson
278 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Branson, 9.5 miles away. That’s 34 times as many as work in Merriam Woods itself. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Merriam Woods workers earn over $40,000 a year
35% of Merriam Woods’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 23% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 810 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Merriam Woods’ Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Merriam Woods’ grade up (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (25.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (10.8%) is left out: Merriam Woods’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Merriam Woods could be anywhere from D− to C−.
A workday in Merriam Woods: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 801 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 34 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Merriam Woods on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
34% of working residents work in Branson
Where Merriam Woods clocks in
34% of workers
15% 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.
Goods, not services: 49% of the jobs in Merriam Woods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merriam Woods, 2014 → 2024: 24 → 43. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Merriam Woods’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Merriam Woods: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merriam Woods workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 795 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.
Where in the region Merriam Woods works
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Merriam Woods, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 831 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). 5.8% of Merriam Woods households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Merriam Woods’ commuters take a bus or train.
Merriam Woods next to U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800: 4,505th of 5,148 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 48 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,503 | Burney CA | 2,668 | $66K | 19.0% | 9.2% | 24% | D |
| 4,504 | Eureka Mill SC | 1,813 | $36K | 40.5% | 14.4% | 1% | D |
| 4,505 | Merriam Woods MO | 2,084 | $52K | 25.2% | 10.8% | 1% | D |
| 4,506 | Santa Rosa TX | 2,355 | $37K | 39.4% | 15.1% | 4% | D |
| 4,507 | Wellington UT | 1,606 | $61K | 18.8% | 5.6% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Merriam Woods, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
How Merriam Woods compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Rockaway Beach (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Merriam Woods workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merriam Woods | – | D | C+ | 24 min | $52,250 |
| Rockaway Beach | 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Rockaway Beach: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Merriam Woods’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 2024, 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 Merriam Woods: questions
What is the median household income in Merriam Woods?
$52,250 (±$10,955) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merriam Woods?
25.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merriam Woods?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merriam Woods work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Branson (34%, 10 mi), Springfield (15%, 33 mi), Forsyth (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Merriam Woods walkable?
Merriam Woods is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Merriam Woods 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 Merriam Woods, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merriam Woods
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.