Photo: Shane52sk at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in St. Peters (2.3%) is lower than in 80% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A: better than 90% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #32 of 247 in Missouri.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns · #155 of 247 in Missouri.
Household incomes here are higher than in 70% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 23 minutes each way (Missouri 24, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in St. Peters; the top destination outside it is St. Louis (8%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in St. Peters
St. Peters trades workers with the towns around it
St. Peters has about as many jobs (32,693) as working residents (29,466), but they are mostly different people: 26,571 residents leave for work each day while 29,798 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in St. Peters are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
St. Peters draws workers from far and wide
The 32,693 jobs in St. Peters are filled from a wide area. St. Peters’ own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 32%; the other 59% 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.
What’s behind St. Peters’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Peters is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #32 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($91,637, 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. Peters could be anywhere from A− to A.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 26,571 residents head out to work, 2,895 work right here, and 29,798 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.
8% of working residents work in St. Louis
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where St. Peters clocks in
8% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 32,693 jobs in St. Peters are
32,693 jobs are based in St. Peters. Here is what they are, next to the jobs St. Peters’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Peters, 2013 → 2023: 25,706 → 32,693. 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.
About 23 minutes each way, about the MO average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Peters workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,941 commuters (the 17% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of St. Peters commutes less than 12 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from St. Peters start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Peters is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #155 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 31,420 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). 3.0% of St. Peters households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Peters’ commuters take a bus or train.
St. Peters is 90th of 720 U.S. towns of 43,000 to 83,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of St. Peters, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Chesterfield MO | 49,309 | $133K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | El Dorado Hills CA | 51,026 | $165K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 12% | A |
| 89 | Rockwall TX | 53,980 | $116K | 4.0% | 4.4% | 14% | A |
| 90 | St. Peters MO | 61,479 | $92K | 5.6% | 2.3% | 10% | A |
| 91 | Saratoga Springs UT | 61,397 | $129K | 5.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A |
| 92 | Catalina Foothills AZ | 52,593 | $115K | 4.5% | 2.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Wentzville MO | 49,495 | $112K | 5.4% | 2.7% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 202 | St. Charles MO | 72,561 | $86K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 720 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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.
16% of St. Peters works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to St. Charles (8%). Darker towns draw more of St. Peters’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Peters workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Peters | – | A | B− | 23 min | $91,637 |
| St. Charles | 8% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $85,937 |
| Cottleville | under 3% | A+ | B | 23 min | $131,310 |
| Weldon Spring | under 3% | A | C | 22 min | $158,548 |
| O'Fallon | 8% | A | B− | 26 min | $110,443 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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. Peters: questions
What is the median household income in St. Peters?
$91,637 (±$3,124) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Peters?
5.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Peters?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Peters work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (8%, 22 mi), St. Charles (8%, 5 mi), O'Fallon (8%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Peters walkable?
St. Peters is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Peters without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Peters, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Peters
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.