Photo: en:User:Cngodles · CC BY 2.5Unemployment in New Madrid (0.7%) is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
0% of workers work from home (Missouri 13%). For jobs and income New Madrid is better than 41% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C). Measured by household income, New Madrid is behind 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in New Madrid, in a few figures
New Madrid trades workers with the towns around it
New Madrid has about as many jobs (1,265) as working residents (1,070), but they are mostly different people: 779 residents leave for work each day while 974 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in New Madrid are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from New Madrid are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Few New Madrid workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in New Madrid pay little
27% of the jobs based in New Madrid pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
Where New Madrid’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds New Madrid’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Madrid could be anywhere from C− to B.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 779 residents head out to work, 291 work right here, and 974 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 (1.18 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.
New Madrid’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Madrid workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,088 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.
New Madrid is a services town
1,265 jobs are based in New Madrid.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Madrid, 2013 → 2023: 1,435 → 1,265. 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 New Madrid’s own residents hold wherever they work.
13% of working residents work in Sikeston
Where New Madrid clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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.
How far New Madrid’s workers travel
About 21% 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.
Few in New Madrid walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,088 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). 3.0% of New Madrid households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Madrid’s commuters take a bus or train.
New Madrid places 2,790th of 5,083 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 50 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,788 | Arcadia Township MI | 3,174 | $80K | 11.0% | 4.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,789 | Madelia MN | 2,488 | $77K | 13.7% | 3.7% | 32% | C+ |
| 2,790 | New Madrid MO | 2,586 | $58K | 12.3% | 0.7% | 27% | C+ |
| 2,791 | Etna-Troy Township IN | 1,904 | $57K | 16.8% | 1.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,792 | Farmington WI | 2,122 | $71K | 9.9% | 3.1% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 New Madrid, 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 New Madrid: questions
What is the median household income in New Madrid?
$57,727 (±$16,451) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Madrid?
12.3%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Madrid?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Madrid work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sikeston (13%, 21 mi), Marston (5%, 6 mi), Cape Girardeau (4%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Madrid walkable?
New Madrid is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Madrid without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Madrid, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Madrid
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.