Lindenwood Neighborhood Historic District · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.9%, unemployment in St. Charles is lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 22 minutes getting to work on average; Missouri averages 24, the U.S. 26. The two grades for St. Charles are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in seven work in St. Charles itself; outside it, St. Louis draws the most (9%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in St. Charles: the figures worth knowing
St. Charles trades workers with the towns around it
St. Charles has about as many jobs (34,913) as working residents (35,144), but they are mostly different people: 30,464 residents leave for work each day while 30,233 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in St. Charles are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
St. Charles draws workers from far and wide
The 34,913 jobs in St. Charles are filled from a wide area. St. Charles’ own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 58% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in St. Charles
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Charles is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #47 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($85,937, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Charles could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Who commutes out of St. Charles, and who commutes in
On a workday 30,464 residents head out to work, 4,680 work right here, and 30,233 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 (0.99 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 St. Charles work
Where St. Charles clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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 the 34,913 jobs in St. Charles are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Charles, 2013 → 2023: 30,299 → 34,913. 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 St. Charles’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for St. Charles’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Charles workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 30,549 commuters (the 18% 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.
Miles to work from St. Charles
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.
Most of St. Charles commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Charles is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #97 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 37,272 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). 4.7% of St. Charles households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Charles’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, St. Charles is 142nd among 599 U.S. towns of 51,000 to 98,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | O'Fallon MO | 96,101 | $110K | 5.4% | 2.7% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | St. Peters MO | 61,479 | $92K | 5.6% | 2.3% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Colonie NY | 86,837 | $102K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 25% | A− |
| 141 | Burleson TX | 56,907 | $94K | 7.1% | 3.5% | 11% | A− |
| 142 | St. Charles MO | 72,561 | $86K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 13% | A− |
| 143 | Georgetown Township MI | 55,682 | $102K | 7.9% | 3.2% | 10% | A− |
| 144 | Rocklin CA | 76,821 | $124K | 5.6% | 4.5% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Blue Springs MO | 61,632 | $89K | 7.0% | 3.5% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 599 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 St. Charles, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Work next door: 10% of St. Charles’ workers
The biggest share goes to St. Peters (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Charles workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles | – | A− | B+ | 22 min | $85,937 |
| St. Peters | 7% | A | B− | 23 min | $91,637 |
| Bridgeton | 3% | B+ | B+ | 21 min | $72,005 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. Charles’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 St. Charles: questions
What is the median household income in St. Charles?
$85,937 (±$3,974) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Charles?
7.3%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Charles?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Charles work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (9%, 18 mi), St. Peters (7%, 5 mi), Maryland Heights (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Charles walkable?
St. Charles is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Charles without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Charles, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Charles
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.