Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0There are 3.6 jobs in Meta for every working resident, and 314 people commute in
Hardly any stay in Meta for work; outside it, Jefferson City is the main destination (41%, 18 miles). There are 314 jobs in Meta for 88 working residents. 0% of workers work from home (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Meta for work, and who comes in
On a workday 88 residents head out to work and 0 work right here.
About 410 people are in Meta on a workday afternoon, 124% more than live here.
3.6 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.
Where Meta’s workers come from
Where Meta clocks in
41% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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: 87% of the jobs in Meta
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Meta, 2013 → 2023: 54 → 314. 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 Meta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 26 minutes in Meta
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Meta workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 46 commuters (the 0% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Meta
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 Meta: questions
What is the median household income in Meta?
$42,708 (±$18,041) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Meta?
12.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Meta?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Meta work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jefferson City (41%, 18 mi), Westphalia (6%, 13 mi), Linn (6%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Meta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Meta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Meta
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.