With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Pleasant Hill works elsewhere
Pleasant Hill has 2,082 jobs; 4,050 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Pleasant Hill is better than 70% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in ten work in Pleasant Hill; the top destination outside it is Kansas City (21%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Pleasant Hill at work: what stands out
Pleasant Hill workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Pleasant Hill’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pleasant Hill is Kansas City, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (831) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pleasant Hill has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Pleasant Hill went from 1,397 in 2013 to 2,082 in 2023, +49%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Pleasant Hill
62% of Pleasant Hill residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Pleasant Hill pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Pleasant Hill’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Pleasant Hill’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pleasant Hill could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Commuting from Pleasant Hill: about 33 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pleasant Hill workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,535 commuters (the 7% 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 far it is to work from Pleasant Hill
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 Pleasant Hill
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pleasant Hill, 2013 → 2023: 1,397 → 2,082. 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 Pleasant Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Pleasant Hill: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,577 residents head out to work, 473 work right here, and 1,609 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,000 people are in Pleasant Hill on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
The places Pleasant Hill commutes to
Where Pleasant Hill clocks in
21% 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.
Driving is how Pleasant Hill gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 4,889 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). 2.7% of Pleasant Hill households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pleasant Hill’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,862 U.S. towns of 6,300 to 12,100, Pleasant Hill comes 1,107th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,105 | Warren RI | 11,070 | $91K | 9.7% | 4.2% | 12% | B+ |
| 1,106 | Stewartville MN | 6,850 | $83K | 4.8% | 3.5% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,107 | Pleasant Hill MO | 8,956 | $96K | 6.0% | 5.2% | 12% | B+ |
| 1,108 | Union Township OH | 9,403 | $95K | 9.5% | 3.9% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,109 | Northampton PA | 10,570 | $91K | 6.7% | 5.2% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,862 | 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 Pleasant Hill, 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 Pleasant Hill: questions
What is the median household income in Pleasant Hill?
$95,602 (±$15,018) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pleasant Hill?
6.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pleasant Hill?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pleasant Hill work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (21%, 27 mi), Lee's Summit (15%, 10 mi), Overland Park (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pleasant Hill walkable?
Pleasant Hill is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pleasant Hill 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 Pleasant Hill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pleasant Hill
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.