Photo: Nheyob · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Pierce City commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
Measured by household income, Pierce City is behind 87% of U.S. towns. 311 jobs are based in Pierce City, and 556 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Pierce City D; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Pierce City
The four measures behind Pierce City’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Pierce City is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Pierce City’s grade up (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (31.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Pierce City’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, Pierce City could be anywhere from D to C−.
29% of working residents work in Monett
Where Pierce City clocks in
29% of workers
12% of workers
5% 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.
In and out of Pierce City on a workday
On a workday 532 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 287 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Pierce City on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
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 Pierce City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pierce City, 2013 → 2023: 318 → 311. 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 Pierce City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Pierce City, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pierce City workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 607 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.
Miles to work from Pierce City
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 commute in Pierce City is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pierce City is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 680 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). 6.0% of Pierce City households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pierce City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Pierce City ranks 4,164th of 4,866 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Loch Lloyd MO | 1,090 | $184K | 2.5% | 0.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | LaBarque Creek MO | 1,457 | $133K | 1.1% | 1.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Fremont Hills MO | 1,098 | $171K | 3.9% | 1.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,162 | Copeland OK | 1,401 | $58K | 16.1% | 4.5% | 3% | D |
| 4,163 | Los Altos TX | 1,082 | $22K | 91.1% | 12.1% | 0% | D |
| 4,164 | Pierce City MO | 1,275 | $51K | 31.8% | 5.2% | 4% | D |
| 4,165 | Burwell NE | 1,018 | $51K | 13.0% | 2.6% | 37% | D |
| 4,166 | Ainsworth NE | 1,585 | $53K | 13.5% | 0.9% | 36% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Pierce City, 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 Pierce City: questions
What is the median household income in Pierce City?
$51,121 (±$11,006) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pierce City?
31.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pierce City?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pierce City work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Monett (29%, 5 mi), Springfield (12%, 43 mi), Joplin (5%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pierce City walkable?
Pierce City is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pierce City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pierce City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pierce City
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.