Photo: Dave Herholz · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Sedalia earn less than those in 87% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, next to 13% for Missouri as a whole. Poverty touches 19.4% of residents (Missouri 12.6%). Jobs and income earn Sedalia C−; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Sedalia, in brief
Commutes from Sedalia 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 ↓
Sedalia draws workers from far and wide
The 14,004 jobs in Sedalia are filled from a wide area. Sedalia’s own residents hold 28% and the ten next-biggest home towns 10%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
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 the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sedalia
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sedalia is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #191 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Sedalia’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($50,990, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sedalia could be anywhere from D to C.
About 16 minutes to work from Sedalia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sedalia workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,780 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.
Where Sedalia goes to work
Where Sedalia 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.
Miles to work from Sedalia
About 31% 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.
In and out of Sedalia on a workday
On a workday 5,833 residents head out to work, 3,951 work right here, and 10,053 people come in from elsewhere.
About 27,000 people are in Sedalia on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
What work there is in Sedalia: 14,004 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sedalia, 2013 → 2023: 13,127 → 14,004. 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 Sedalia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Sedalia, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sedalia is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #72 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% 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 10,294 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). 9.7% of Sedalia households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Sedalia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sedalia next to U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Creve Coeur MO | 18,480 | $127K | 6.1% | 2.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 150 | Ballwin MO | 30,901 | $125K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Kirkwood MO | 29,331 | $121K | 5.3% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,583 | Alton TX | 24,138 | $53K | 27.5% | 8.3% | 2% | C− |
| 1,584 | Big Spring TX | 22,290 | $68K | 17.1% | 6.6% | 31% | C− |
| 1,585 | Sedalia MO | 22,621 | $51K | 19.4% | 5.2% | 40% | C− |
| 1,586 | Lake Wales FL | 18,650 | $56K | 22.4% | 5.9% | 13% | C− |
| 1,587 | Plattsburgh NY | 19,744 | $58K | 22.7% | 5.9% | 36% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Sedalia, 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 Sedalia: questions
What is the median household income in Sedalia?
$50,990 (±$3,718) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sedalia?
19.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sedalia?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sedalia work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (4%, 76 mi), Columbia (4%, 52 mi), Warrensburg (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sedalia walkable?
Sedalia is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sedalia without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sedalia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sedalia
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.