Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Sikeston has lower household incomes than 76% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 14.2% of residents, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. Sikeston grades C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 4% of workers have no commute at all (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Sikeston stands out on work
Sikeston is where the jobs are
Sikeston has 10,590 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Sikeston 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 ↓
Few Sikeston workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Sikeston draws workers from far and wide
The 10,590 jobs in Sikeston are filled from a wide area. Sikeston’s own residents hold 27% and the ten next-biggest home towns 18%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
Jobs & income in Sikeston: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sikeston is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #132 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Sikeston’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($58,915, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sikeston could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The daily commute in and out of Sikeston
On a workday 3,635 residents head out to work, 2,855 work right here, and 7,735 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Sikeston on a workday afternoon, 26% more than live here.
1.6 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.
The trip to work from Sikeston: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sikeston workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,668 commuters (the 4% 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 Sikeston’s workers come from
Where Sikeston clocks in
6% 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.
What work there is in Sikeston: 10,590 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sikeston, 2013 → 2023: 10,325 → 10,590. 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 Sikeston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Sikeston
About 16% 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.
Sikeston is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sikeston is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #100 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 6,922 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). 6.1% of Sikeston households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sikeston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Sikeston ranks: 1,648th of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Crestwood MO | 12,207 | $107K | 5.5% | 1.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,646 | Hermiston OR | 19,906 | $67K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 34% | C+ |
| 1,647 | Burkburnett TX | 11,057 | $66K | 16.7% | 3.5% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,648 | Sikeston MO | 15,983 | $59K | 14.2% | 3.5% | 44% | C+ |
| 1,649 | Niles OH | 18,116 | $51K | 16.2% | 4.2% | 15% | C+ |
| 1,650 | Sidney OH | 20,124 | $61K | 14.2% | 4.8% | 35% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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 Sikeston, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
How Sikeston compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sikeston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sikeston | – | C+ | B+ | 16 min | $58,915 |
| Miner | 4% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Miner: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Miner. Darker towns draw more of Sikeston’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 Sikeston: questions
What is the median household income in Sikeston?
$58,915 (±$3,526) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sikeston?
14.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sikeston?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sikeston work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cape Girardeau (6%, 30 mi), Miner (4%, 3 mi), Dexter (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sikeston walkable?
Sikeston is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sikeston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sikeston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sikeston
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.