Photo: Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Pacific (1.8%) is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Pacific itself; outside it, St. Louis draws the most (8%, 29 miles). For jobs and income Pacific is better than 76% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (C). The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Pacific, in brief
Pacific makes and builds things
54% of the jobs based in Pacific are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Pacific residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
No single place dominates Pacific’s commute
The biggest draw, St. Louis, gets only 8% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Pacific residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Pacific’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pacific is St. Louis, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (300) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pacific workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Pacific
Unemployment holds Pacific’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($62,860, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pacific could be anywhere from B to A.
A place that makes things: 54% of Pacific’s jobs are in goods
4,680 jobs are based in Pacific.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pacific, 2013 → 2023: 4,207 → 4,680. 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 Pacific’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Pacific commutes to
Where Pacific clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 distance from Pacific to work
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.
About 29 minutes to work from Pacific
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pacific workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,159 commuters (the 11% 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.
How a workday changes Pacific
On a workday 3,155 residents head out to work, 426 work right here, and 4,254 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,900 people are in Pacific on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
Most trips from Pacific start in a car
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 3,563 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 Pacific households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pacific’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pacific is 922nd of 3,026 U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 920 | Nephi UT | 7,488 | $106K | 4.9% | 1.6% | 36% | A− |
| 921 | Hampden ME | 8,078 | $112K | 7.5% | 2.4% | 11% | A− |
| 922 | Pacific MO | 7,824 | $63K | 5.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A− |
| 923 | Barrington NJ | 7,155 | $87K | 7.4% | 4.7% | 4% | A− |
| 924 | Matawan NJ | 9,768 | $123K | 10.5% | 5.1% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Pacific, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Around Pacific: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Eureka (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pacific workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific | – | A− | C | 29 min | $62,860 |
| Gray Summit | under 3% | A− | C+ | 29 min | $65,667 |
| Eureka | 4% | A− | C | 27 min | $108,394 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pacific’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 Pacific: questions
What is the median household income in Pacific?
$62,860 (±$8,060) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pacific?
5.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pacific?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pacific work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (8%, 29 mi), Chesterfield (5%, 15 mi), Eureka (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pacific walkable?
Pacific is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pacific 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 Pacific, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pacific
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.