Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Almost no one in Odessa’s labor force is looking for work
About one in seven work in Odessa itself; outside it, Kansas City draws the most (16%, 32 miles). Jobs and income earn Odessa A; getting around on foot earns it C. Household incomes here are higher than in 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Odessa, in a few figures
Odessa’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Odessa is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #39 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment is its strongest input (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Odessa could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
How far Odessa’s workers travel
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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Odessa
On a workday 2,176 residents head out to work, 314 work right here, and 928 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Odessa on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.50 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 Odessa’s working residents head each day
Where Odessa clocks in
16% of workers
7% 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.
What work there is in Odessa: 1,242 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Odessa, 2013 → 2023: 1,306 → 1,242. 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 Odessa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Odessa: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Odessa workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,702 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
In Odessa, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Odessa is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #215 of 247 in Missouri. 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 2,913 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). 2.3% of Odessa households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Odessa’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Odessa is 473rd of 3,476 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Cottleville MO | 6,717 | $131K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Greenwood MO | 6,315 | $107K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 471 | Chester NH | 5,322 | $142K | 4.0% | 2.9% | 5% | A |
| 472 | Christiana TN | 4,777 | $101K | 4.9% | 2.5% | <1% | A |
| 473 | Odessa MO | 5,721 | $100K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 13% | A |
| 474 | Whiteford Township MI | 4,618 | $101K | 4.5% | 2.8% | 7% | A |
| 475 | Kentfield CA | 6,900 | $250K | 3.9% | 4.9% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,476 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Odessa, 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 Odessa: questions
What is the median household income in Odessa?
$100,022 (±$21,672) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Odessa?
6.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Odessa?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Odessa work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (16%, 32 mi), Blue Springs (7%, 16 mi), Lee's Summit (7%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Odessa walkable?
Odessa 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 Odessa 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 Odessa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Odessa
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.