Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Households in Potosi earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 5% of workers, where Missouri as a whole has 13%. Below the poverty line: 25.0% of residents, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. Potosi grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Potosi, in a few figures
Potosi has far more jobs than workers
Potosi has 2,629 jobs, 3.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,300 people are in town, 69% more than the 2,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
Potosi workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Potosi workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Potosi’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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; with 861 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Potosi
Unemployment holds Potosi’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($39,846, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Potosi could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Potosi nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 673 residents head out to work, 188 work right here, and 2,441 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Potosi on a workday afternoon, 69% more than live here.
3.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Potosi, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Potosi workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,029 commuters (the 5% 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.
What work there is in Potosi: 2,629 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Potosi, 2013 → 2023: 2,541 → 2,629. 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 Potosi’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Potosi
Where Potosi clocks in
8% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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 Potosi to work
About 29% 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.
Getting around Potosi: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Potosi is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #144 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 1,086 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). 15.1% of Potosi households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Potosi’s commuters take a bus or train.
Potosi next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500: 4,288th of 5,083 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 50 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,286 | Bell Township PA | 1,956 | $57K | 16.7% | 1.3% | 2% | D |
| 4,287 | Paris AR | 3,357 | $51K | 18.9% | 5.0% | 25% | D |
| 4,288 | Potosi MO | 2,568 | $40K | 25.0% | 3.7% | 22% | D |
| 4,289 | Seaside Heights NJ | 2,549 | $48K | 34.1% | 8.0% | 8% | D |
| 4,290 | Billings Township MI | 2,377 | $54K | 10.0% | 7.1% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Potosi, 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 Potosi: questions
What is the median household income in Potosi?
$39,846 (±$11,942) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Potosi?
25.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Potosi?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Potosi work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmington (8%, 22 mi), Columbia (3%, 109 mi), Bonne Terre (2%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Potosi walkable?
Potosi is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Potosi without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Potosi, from the people who make the trip.
More of Potosi
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.