Photo: Raschmidt87 · CC BY-SA 4.0Springfield has 2.2 jobs for every working resident: 102,758 people commute in to work
Measured by household income, Springfield is behind 89% of U.S. towns. There are 153,055 jobs in Springfield, and 70,519 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Springfield are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Springfield: the figures worth knowing
Springfield is where the jobs are
Springfield has 153,055 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 252,000 people are in town, 49% more than the 170,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Springfield are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
A young workforce
31% of Springfield’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
Inside Springfield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Springfield is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #138 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Springfield’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,311, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Springfield could be anywhere from C to C+.
Who commutes out of Springfield, and who commutes in
On a workday 20,222 residents head out to work and 50,297 work right here.
About 252,000 people are in Springfield on a workday afternoon, 49% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Springfield: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Springfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 75,870 commuters (the 10% 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 Springfield’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Springfield, 2013 → 2023: 138,379 → 153,055. 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 Springfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Springfield’s workforce comes from
Where Springfield clocks in
2% 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.
How many miles Springfield commutes
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.
Springfield is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Springfield is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #34 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Springfield 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 84,651 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). 9.0% of Springfield households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Springfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Springfield next to U.S. towns of 119,000 to 229,000: 147th of 183 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Columbia MO | 130,851 | $66K | 19.3% | 4.0% | 69% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Independence MO | 121,675 | $60K | 15.8% | 5.6% | 16% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Providence RI | 195,310 | $68K | 20.7% | 8.2% | 36% | C |
| 146 | Lehigh Acres FL | 132,353 | $67K | 17.1% | 4.5% | 9% | C |
| 147 | Springfield MO | 169,847 | $49K | 18.4% | 4.3% | 71% | C |
| 148 | McAllen TX | 150,640 | $62K | 20.0% | 6.0% | 37% | C |
| 149 | Lakewood Township NJ | 143,765 | $65K | 24.8% | 5.8% | 42% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Springfield, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Around Springfield: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Republic (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Springfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield | – | C | A− | 18 min | $49,311 |
| Republic | 2% | B− | B | 25 min | $65,729 |
| Willard | under 1% | B+ | C | 23 min | $84,600 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Springfield’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 Springfield: questions
What is the median household income in Springfield?
$49,311 (±$1,276) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Springfield?
18.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Springfield?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Springfield work?
71% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Republic (2%, 7 mi), Ozark (2%, 12 mi), Nixa (1%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Springfield walkable?
Springfield is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Springfield without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Springfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Springfield
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.