St. Paul has higher household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 24 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 0.5% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. St. Paul grades A+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets St. Paul apart on work
St. Paul makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in St. Paul are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs St. Paul residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
St. Paul is a place people come home to
There are 352 jobs based in St. Paul, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday St. Paul has about 2,400 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
St. Paul and O'Fallon trade workers both ways
O'Fallon is the top workplace for St. Paul residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in St. Paul come from (11% of its jobs). 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 St. Paul earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Paul is among the top U.S. towns, #4 of 247 in Missouri. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Paul stays A+.
62% of the jobs in St. Paul make or build things
352 jobs are based in St. Paul.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Paul, 2013 → 2023: 335 → 352. 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. Paul’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of St. Paul
On a workday 1,735 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 334 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in St. Paul on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.20 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.
15% of working residents work in O'Fallon
Where St. Paul clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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 24 minutes to work from St. Paul
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Paul workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,630 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.
Half of St. Paul commutes less than 17 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.
In St. Paul, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Paul is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #234 of 247 in Missouri. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.2% across Missouri, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,887 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). 7.3% of St. Paul households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Paul’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200, St. Paul comes 30th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| 29 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 30 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 31 | Spring Valley Village TX | 4,402 | $245K | 1.0% | 2.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 32 | West Lakeland Township MN | 3,931 | $216K | 3.8% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 280 | Rock Hill MO | 4,668 | $95K | 5.2% | 2.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 376 | Lake Lotawana MO | 2,756 | $166K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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. Paul, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Bordering towns draw 15% of St. Paul’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to O'Fallon. Darker towns draw more of St. Paul’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. Paul: questions
What is the median household income in St. Paul?
$159,022 (±$19,881) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Paul?
0.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Paul?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Paul work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are O'Fallon (15%, 5 mi), St. Charles (7%, 13 mi), St. Peters (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Paul walkable?
St. Paul is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Paul without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Paul, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Paul
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.