William Henry and Lilla Luce Harrison House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCape Girardeau draws about two in five of Scott City’s working residents
Home is the office for 6% of workers (Missouri 13%). Scott City grades B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 70% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Scott City stands out on work
Scott City trades workers with the towns around it
Scott City has about as many jobs (1,628) as working residents (1,790), but they are mostly different people: 1,599 residents leave for work each day while 1,437 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in Scott City are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
41% of Scott City works in Cape Girardeau
736 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Cape Girardeau, 6 miles away across the town line. That’s 4 times as many as work in Scott City itself. The commute map ↓
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.
How Scott City earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Scott City is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #99 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Scott City’s grade up (2.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($62,599, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Scott City could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Scott City
On a workday 1,599 residents head out to work, 191 work right here, and 1,437 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 (0.91 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 people from Scott City work
Where Scott City clocks in
41% of workers
6% 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.
Making and building: 31% of jobs based in Scott City
1,628 jobs are based in Scott City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scott City, 2013 → 2023: 1,444 → 1,628. 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 Scott City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Scott City: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scott City workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,104 commuters (the 6% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Scott City
About 18% 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.
Scott City is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Scott City is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #226 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 2,236 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). 3.1% of Scott City households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Scott City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Scott City is 2,050th among 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,048 | Viroqua WI | 4,435 | $67K | 7.7% | 2.9% | 37% | B− |
| 2,049 | Chesterfield NH | 3,684 | $102K | 8.6% | 5.3% | 5% | B− |
| 2,050 | Scott City MO | 4,593 | $63K | 11.2% | 2.0% | 11% | B− |
| 2,051 | Sidney ME | 4,929 | $83K | 6.4% | 5.4% | 5% | B− |
| 2,052 | Kahaluu-Keauhou HI | 5,150 | $96K | 8.6% | 3.9% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | 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 Scott City, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
41% of Scott City works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Scott City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott City | – | B− | C | 22 min | $62,599 |
| Cape Girardeau | 41% | C+ | B+ | 16 min | $55,658 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cape Girardeau. Darker towns draw more of Scott City’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Scott City: questions
What is the median household income in Scott City?
$62,599 (±$10,915) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scott City?
11.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scott City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scott City work?
11% work in town.
Is Scott City walkable?
Scott City is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scott City without a car?
<1% 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 Scott City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scott 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.