Ozark Courthouse Square Historic District · Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Springfield draws more than half of Ozark’s working residents
Jobs and income earn Ozark B−; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in ten stay in Ozark for work; outside it, Springfield is the main destination (52%, 12 miles). Working residents average 24 minutes each way, about the same as across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Ozark, in brief
More than half of Ozark works in Springfield
4,722 working residents, 52%, have their main job in Springfield, 12 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Ozark itself. The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Ozark are held by workers 29 or younger, against 26% of Ozark’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
Ozark draws workers from far and wide
The 6,810 jobs in Ozark are filled from a wide area. Ozark’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. 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 Ozark earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ozark is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #106 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Ozark’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ozark could be anywhere from C to B+.
Where people from Ozark work
Where Ozark clocks in
52% 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.
What Ozark’s employers do
6,810 jobs are based in Ozark.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ozark, 2013 → 2023: 6,162 → 6,810. 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 Ozark’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Ozark on a workday afternoon
On a workday 8,070 residents head out to work, 994 work right here, and 5,816 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Ozark on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 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.
Getting to work from Ozark takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ozark workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,809 commuters (the 8% 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.
Ozark’s commute, mile by mile
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 Ozark: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ozark is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #128 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Ozark 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 10,660 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). 3.2% of Ozark households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ozark’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000, Ozark ranks 1,211th of 1,780 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Creve Coeur MO | 18,480 | $127K | 6.1% | 2.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Ballwin MO | 30,901 | $125K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Kirkwood MO | 29,331 | $121K | 5.3% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,209 | Kingsland GA | 21,299 | $78K | 10.7% | 3.2% | 20% | B− |
| 1,210 | Easton MD | 17,293 | $75K | 11.0% | 3.4% | 31% | B− |
| 1,211 | Ozark MO | 23,544 | $74K | 12.6% | 4.3% | 11% | B− |
| 1,212 | Marion Oaks FL | 23,972 | $72K | 10.2% | 3.7% | 3% | B− |
| 1,213 | Greenbelt MD | 24,948 | $86K | 19.1% | 6.7% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Ozark, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Work in the towns next to Ozark
The biggest share goes to Nixa (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ozark workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozark | – | B− | B | 24 min | $74,182 |
| Nixa | 4% | B+ | B | 23 min | $83,385 |
| Fremont Hills | under 1% | A+ | C+ | 22 min | $171,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ozark’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 Ozark: questions
What is the median household income in Ozark?
$74,182 (±$6,354) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ozark?
12.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ozark?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ozark work?
11% work in town.
Is Ozark walkable?
Ozark is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ozark 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 Ozark, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ozark
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.