Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0At 1.1%, unemployment in Smithville is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Smithville is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Smithville are A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in ten stay in Smithville for work; outside it, Kansas City is the main destination (35%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Smithville
Smithville and Kansas City trade workers both ways
Kansas City is the top workplace for Smithville residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Smithville come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Smithville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Smithville’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Smithville is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #25 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 70% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Smithville could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The places Smithville commutes to
Where Smithville clocks in
35% 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.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Missouri
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smithville workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,574 commuters (the 14% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Smithville
On a workday 4,585 residents head out to work, 480 work right here, and 1,905 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Smithville on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.47 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Jobs in Smithville: what the 2,385 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smithville, 2013 → 2023: 1,789 → 2,385. 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 Smithville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Smithville commutes less than 19 miles
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.
The commute in Smithville is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Smithville is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #194 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Smithville near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,288 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.6% of Smithville households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Smithville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Smithville is 341st of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 339 | Cedar Creek Township IN | 14,290 | $112K | 4.0% | 2.5% | 8% | A |
| 340 | Hawthorn Woods IL | 9,679 | $220K | 0.6% | 5.7% | 1% | A |
| 341 | Smithville MO | 11,160 | $101K | 5.4% | 1.1% | 9% | A |
| 342 | Port Jefferson NY | 8,306 | $145K | 5.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| 343 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Smithville, 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 Smithville: questions
What is the median household income in Smithville?
$101,165 (±$9,215) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smithville?
5.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smithville?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smithville work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (35%, 19 mi), Kansas City (5%, 21 mi), North Kansas City (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Smithville walkable?
Smithville is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Smithville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smithville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smithville
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.