Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Mountain Grove’s household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 24% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #173 of 247 in Missouri.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns · #79 of 247 in Missouri.
Working residents average 14 minutes each way (Missouri 24, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Mountain Grove; the top destination outside it is Springfield (11%, 57 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Mountain Grove, in brief
Mountain Grove’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mountain Grove is Springfield, 57 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (160) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Mountain Grove are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Mountain Grove workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Mountain Grove’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 Mountain Grove’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mountain Grove is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #173 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Mountain Grove’s grade up (1.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($37,415, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mountain Grove could be anywhere from D to B−.
Half of Mountain Grove commutes less than 25 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 35% 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.
About 14 minutes each way, quicker than most of Missouri
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountain Grove workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,698 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
What the 1,838 jobs in Mountain Grove are
1,838 jobs are based in Mountain Grove. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mountain Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain Grove, 2013 → 2023: 1,751 → 1,838. 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,136 residents head out to work, 349 work right here, and 1,489 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 (1.24 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.
11% of working residents work in Springfield
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Mountain Grove clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Most trips from Mountain Grove start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mountain Grove is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #79 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% 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 1,830 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). 4.2% of Mountain Grove households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mountain Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mountain Grove is 3,014th of 3,867 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,400 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Mountain Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Greenwood MO | 6,315 | $107K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,012 | Smithville TX | 4,367 | $60K | 12.2% | 5.2% | 15% | C− |
| 3,013 | Richland Township IN | 4,714 | $68K | 13.3% | 5.2% | 16% | C− |
| 3,014 | Mountain Grove MO | 4,754 | $37K | 17.8% | 1.0% | 24% | C− |
| 3,015 | Hanover Township IN | 5,695 | $66K | 11.4% | 6.4% | 10% | C− |
| 3,016 | Hugoton KS | 3,545 | $63K | 15.8% | 3.5% | 47% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,867 | 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.
Mountain Grove and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Clinton Township (1%). Darker towns draw more of Mountain Grove’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mountain Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Grove | – | C− | B+ | 14 min | $37,415 |
| Clinton Township | 1% | C | D | 21 min | $64,861 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Mountain Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Mountain Grove?
$37,415 (±$15,257) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain Grove?
17.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain Grove?
14 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain Grove work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (11%, 57 mi), Cabool (7%, 9 mi), Mansfield (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mountain Grove walkable?
Mountain Grove is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mountain Grove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mountain Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mountain Grove
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.