John Dickinson Dopf Mansion · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Rock Port earn less than those in 92% of U.S. towns
2% of workers have no commute at all, against 13% across Missouri. Below the poverty line: 13.7% of residents, next to 12.6% across Missouri. Rock Port grades D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Rock Port stands out on work
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Rock Port are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Rock Port than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Rock Port fell from 661 in 2013 to 492 in 2023, −26%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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 522 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Rock Port: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Rock Port is better than 7% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Rock Port’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Rock Port’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, Rock Port could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Miles to work from Rock Port
About 32% 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.
Time on the road from Rock Port: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rock Port workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 581 commuters (the 2% 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 the 492 jobs in Rock Port are
492 jobs are based in Rock Port.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rock Port, 2013 → 2023: 661 → 492. 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 Rock Port’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 376 residents head out to work, 146 work right here, and 346 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 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.
Where Rock Port goes to work
Where Rock Port clocks in
4% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Most trips from Rock Port start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rock Port is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 592 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 Rock Port households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rock Port’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rock Port ranks: 4,274th of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,272 | Caraway AR | 1,104 | $39K | 19.5% | 3.3% | 1% | D |
| 4,273 | Standish MI | 1,449 | $35K | 20.1% | 8.5% | 16% | D |
| 4,274 | Rock Port MO | 1,246 | $46K | 13.7% | 1.0% | 28% | D |
| 4,275 | Clintwood VA | 1,297 | $52K | 16.8% | 2.3% | 22% | D |
| 4,276 | Thurman NY | 1,090 | $59K | 19.2% | 5.5% | 3% | 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 Rock Port, 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 Rock Port: questions
What is the median household income in Rock Port?
$45,815 (±$9,529) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rock Port?
13.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rock Port?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rock Port work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Joseph (4%, 59 mi), Kansas City (4%, 103 mi), Tarkio (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rock Port walkable?
Rock Port is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rock Port 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 Rock Port, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rock Port
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.