Photo: James Hayes from USA · CC BY 2.0Households in St. Clair have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in St. Clair for work; outside it, Union is the main destination (8%, 6 miles). 15.1% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.6% across Missouri. The two grades for St. Clair are D for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in St. Clair, in a few figures
St. Clair trades workers with the towns around it
St. Clair has about as many jobs (2,327) as working residents (2,087), but they are mostly different people: 1,776 residents leave for work each day while 2,016 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in St. Clair are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
St. Clair 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.
The figures behind St. Clair’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Clair is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #221 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds St. Clair’s grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,820, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Clair could be anywhere from D to C.
A workday in St. Clair: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,776 residents head out to work, 311 work right here, and 2,016 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 (1.11 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.
From St. Clair, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Clair workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,897 commuters (the 8% 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 St. Clair’s working residents head each day
Where St. Clair clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Goods, not services: 30% of the jobs in St. Clair
2,327 jobs are based in St. Clair.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Clair, 2013 → 2023: 2,497 → 2,327. 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. Clair’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from St. Clair
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 trips from St. Clair start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Clair is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #180 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 2,053 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). 7.6% of St. Clair households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Clair’s commuters take a bus or train.
St. Clair next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Greenwood MO | 6,315 | $107K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,408 | Goulding FL | 3,734 | $29K | 35.4% | 11.1% | 2% | D |
| 3,409 | Rainbow Lakes Estates FL | 3,762 | $50K | 11.9% | 6.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,410 | St. Clair MO | 4,813 | $42K | 15.1% | 9.8% | 15% | D |
| 3,411 | Ayden NC | 5,263 | $42K | 22.4% | 6.7% | 5% | D |
| 3,412 | Clearfield PA | 5,753 | $55K | 20.1% | 8.3% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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. Clair, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Work in the towns next to St. Clair
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Clair workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Clair | – | D | B− | 29 min | $41,820 |
| Parkway | under 3% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Parkway: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. Clair’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. Clair: questions
What is the median household income in St. Clair?
$41,820 (±$5,116) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Clair?
15.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Clair?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Clair work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union (8%, 6 mi), Washington (7%, 14 mi), St. Louis (5%, 45 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Clair walkable?
St. Clair is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Clair without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Clair, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Clair
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.