Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Palmyra (3.2%) is lower than in 66% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Palmyra itself; outside it, Hannibal draws the most (20%, 9 miles). For jobs and income Palmyra is better than 60% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−). Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average; Missouri averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Palmyra and work: the main findings
Palmyra and Hannibal trade workers both ways
Hannibal is the top workplace for Palmyra residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Palmyra come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Palmyra are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 54 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.
Palmyra’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
The poverty rate holds Palmyra’s grade up (5.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palmyra could be anywhere from C to A−.
Where Palmyra’s working residents head each day
Where Palmyra clocks in
20% 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.
Palmyra’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palmyra workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,426 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 daily flow of workers through Palmyra
On a workday 1,350 residents head out to work, 318 work right here, and 981 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Palmyra on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
What Palmyra’s employers do
1,299 jobs are based in Palmyra.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palmyra, 2013 → 2023: 1,323 → 1,299. 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 Palmyra’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Palmyra to work
About 23% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Palmyra
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,564 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). 7.8% of Palmyra households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Palmyra’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,210 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 4,900, Palmyra comes 1,677th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 175 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 283 | Rock Hill MO | 4,668 | $95K | 5.2% | 2.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,675 | Canajoharie NY | 3,649 | $78K | 7.6% | 1.6% | 13% | B |
| 1,676 | DeMotte IN | 4,384 | $70K | 8.4% | 1.8% | 14% | B |
| 1,677 | Palmyra MO | 3,649 | $70K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 19% | B |
| 1,678 | Hallam PA | 2,798 | $75K | 17.5% | 2.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,679 | Littlestown PA | 4,895 | $71K | 12.7% | 0.3% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,210 | 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 Palmyra, 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 Palmyra: questions
What is the median household income in Palmyra?
$69,922 (±$8,058) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palmyra?
5.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palmyra?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palmyra work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hannibal (20%, 9 mi), Quincy (14%, 12 mi), Ellington Township (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palmyra walkable?
Palmyra is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palmyra 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 Palmyra, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palmyra
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.