Photo: Karenprince1111 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Stockton earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
20.0% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. For jobs and income Stockton is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+). 5% of workers have no commute at all, where Missouri as a whole has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Stockton
Stockton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Stockton is Springfield, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (93) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Many jobs in Stockton pay little
29% of the jobs based in Stockton pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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; with 668 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Stockton’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Stockton’s grade.
Unemployment (8.9%) is left out: Stockton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Stockton could be anywhere from D− to D.
How far Stockton goes to work
About 34% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Jobs in Stockton: what the 886 are
886 jobs are based in Stockton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stockton, 2013 → 2023: 898 → 886. 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 Stockton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Stockton, and who commutes in
On a workday 546 residents head out to work, 122 work right here, and 764 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Stockton on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
14% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Stockton clocks in
14% of workers
10% of workers
3% 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.
A commute of about 27 minutes in Stockton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stockton workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 583 commuters (the 5% 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.
Most trips from Stockton start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 616 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). 5.4% of Stockton households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stockton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Stockton compares with U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 56 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,425 | Cedaredge CO | 2,448 | $48K | 20.6% | 9.3% | 12% | D− |
| 5,426 | Wewahitchka FL | 2,213 | $44K | 20.1% | 2.0% | 13% | D− |
| 5,427 | Stockton MO | 1,825 | $38K | 20.0% | 8.9% | 18% | D− |
| 5,428 | Andrews NC | 1,799 | $37K | 21.4% | 5.5% | 15% | D− |
| 5,429 | Glouster OH | 1,630 | $38K | 28.0% | 4.8% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Stockton, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
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 Stockton: questions
What is the median household income in Stockton?
$37,679 (±$7,043) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stockton?
20.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stockton?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stockton work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (14%, 44 mi), Bolivar (10%, 22 mi), Kansas City (3%, 107 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stockton walkable?
Stockton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stockton without a car?
0% 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 Stockton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stockton
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.