Oronogo has lower unemployment (1.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Oronogo A−; getting around on foot earns it C. Hardly any stay in Oronogo for work; outside it, Joplin is the main destination (32%, 8 miles). 20% of workers have no commute at all (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Oronogo: the gist
Oronogo is a place people come home to
There are 161 jobs based in Oronogo, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Oronogo has about 2,300 people in it, 27% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Oronogo residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
One in three of Oronogo works in Joplin
335 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Joplin, 8.3 miles away. That’s 32 times as many as work in Oronogo itself. The commute map ↓
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.
How Oronogo earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oronogo is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #46 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 51% 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, Oronogo could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The daily flow of workers through Oronogo
On a workday 1,028 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 153 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Oronogo on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.16 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Oronogo
About 18% 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.
Where the trip to work from Oronogo ends
Where Oronogo clocks in
32% of workers
14% 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 Oronogo: 161 jobs
161 jobs are based in Oronogo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oronogo, 2013 → 2023: 132 → 161. 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 Oronogo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Oronogo: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oronogo workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,077 commuters (the 20% 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 Oronogo, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oronogo is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #231 of 247 in Missouri. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.2% across Missouri, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,339 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). 0.6% of Oronogo households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oronogo’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Oronogo is 602nd of 4,698 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 600 | Bridgetown MS | 3,195 | $139K | 1.0% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| 601 | Enon VA | 4,137 | $76K | 6.7% | 0.9% | 2% | A− |
| 602 | Oronogo MO | 3,204 | $92K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A− |
| 603 | Brookville NY | 3,037 | $250K | 4.5% | 7.8% | 2% | A− |
| 604 | Grafton Township OH | 2,860 | $90K | 3.6% | 3.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Oronogo, 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 Oronogo: questions
What is the median household income in Oronogo?
$91,563 (±$8,210) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oronogo?
5.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oronogo?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oronogo work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joplin (32%, 8 mi), Carthage (14%, 8 mi), Webb City (10%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oronogo walkable?
Oronogo is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oronogo without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oronogo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oronogo
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.