Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Osceola trail those of 94% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Osceola; the top destination outside it is Clinton (10%, 23 miles). 26.1% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.6% across Missouri. The two grades for Osceola are D− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Osceola at work: what stands out
A big share show a job far from home
44% 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 ↓
Osceola’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Osceola is Clinton, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (34) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Osceola than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Osceola fell from 517 in 2013 to 376 in 2023, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 335 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Osceola
On income, poverty and job access, Osceola is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Osceola’s grade.
Unemployment (1.5%) is left out: Osceola’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Osceola could be anywhere from D− to D.
Short hops and long hauls from Osceola
About 44% 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.
The kinds of work in Osceola
376 jobs are based in Osceola.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Osceola, 2013 → 2023: 517 → 376. 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 Osceola’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Osceola: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 288 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 329 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 (1.12 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.
Where Osceola’s working residents head each day
Where Osceola clocks in
10% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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 Osceola: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Osceola workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 268 commuters (the 14% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Osceola
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Osceola is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Osceola near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 312 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). 7.5% of Osceola households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Osceola’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Osceola compares with U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Loch Lloyd MO | 1,090 | $184K | 2.5% | 0.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Fremont Hills MO | 1,098 | $171K | 3.9% | 1.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Bel-Nor MO | 1,351 | $111K | 5.8% | 8.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,023 | Shaw MS | 1,337 | $30K | 37.5% | 8.7% | 4% | D− |
| 3,024 | Port Gibson MS | 1,155 | $43K | 39.0% | 15.6% | 23% | D− |
| 3,025 | Osceola MO | 1,012 | $43K | 26.1% | 1.5% | 14% | D− |
| 3,026 | Edina MO | 1,014 | $42K | 22.4% | 1.7% | 15% | D− |
| 3,027 | Erin TN | 1,207 | $36K | 21.9% | 6.9% | 15% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Osceola, 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 Osceola: questions
What is the median household income in Osceola?
$42,582 (±$20,733) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Osceola?
26.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Osceola?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Osceola work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clinton (10%, 23 mi), Springfield (7%, 63 mi), Lebanon (3%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Osceola walkable?
Osceola is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Osceola without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Osceola, from the people who make the trip.
More of Osceola
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.