Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5There are 3.6 jobs in Osage Beach for every working resident, and 5,697 people commute in
For jobs and income Osage Beach is better than 34% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (B+). Osage Beach has 6,213 jobs; 1,707 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, Osage Beach is behind 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Osage Beach, in a few figures
Osage Beach has far more jobs than workers
Osage Beach has 6,213 jobs, 3.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,600 people are in town, 89% more than the 5,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Osage Beach draws workers from far and wide
The 6,213 jobs in Osage Beach are filled from a wide area. Osage Beach’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Osage Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Osage Beach earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Osage Beach’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($55,994, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Osage Beach could be anywhere from D to B.
How many people are in Osage Beach by day
On a workday 1,191 residents head out to work and 516 work right here.
About 9,600 people are in Osage Beach on a workday afternoon, 89% 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.
The towns that send workers to Osage Beach
Where Osage Beach clocks in
7% 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.
The trip to work from Osage Beach: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Osage Beach workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,965 commuters (the 9% 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.
The kinds of work in Osage Beach
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Osage Beach, 2013 → 2023: 4,943 → 6,213. 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 Osage Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Osage Beach
About 26% 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.
Getting around Osage Beach: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% 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 2,154 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). 7.4% of Osage Beach households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Osage Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Osage Beach ranks: 2,539th of 3,627 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 6,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Cottleville MO | 6,717 | $131K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,537 | Armagh Township PA | 4,088 | $74K | 21.2% | 2.8% | 12% | C |
| 2,538 | Cherry Valley CA | 6,668 | $77K | 13.2% | 11.9% | 2% | C |
| 2,539 | Osage Beach MO | 5,079 | $56K | 12.8% | 2.7% | 30% | C |
| 2,540 | Paulsboro NJ | 6,329 | $64K | 15.2% | 13.0% | 5% | C |
| 2,541 | Boyertown PA | 4,333 | $57K | 11.1% | 8.3% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,627 | 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 Osage Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Osage Beach and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Lake Ozark (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Osage Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osage Beach | – | C | B+ | 18 min | $55,994 |
| Lake Ozark | 7% | C | B− | 22 min | $74,176 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Osage Beach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Osage Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Osage Beach?
$55,994 (±$7,467) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Osage Beach?
12.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Osage Beach?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Osage Beach work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jefferson City (7%, 39 mi), Lake Ozark (7%, 5 mi), Camdenton (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Osage Beach walkable?
Osage Beach is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Osage Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Osage Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Osage Beach
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.