Rott School · Photo: LittleT889 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Sunset Hills top those of 93% of U.S. towns
3.7% of residents are in poverty, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. For jobs and income Sunset Hills is better than 94% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (B+). Only 5% work in Sunset Hills; the top destination outside it is St. Louis (21%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Sunset Hills in brief
Sunset Hills is where the jobs are
Sunset Hills has 10,455 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, 74% more than the 9,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Sunset Hills draws workers from far and wide
The 10,455 jobs in Sunset Hills are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 25%; the other 73% 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.
Where Sunset Hills’ Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income is its strongest input ($138,144, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sunset Hills could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Sunset Hills nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 3,535 residents head out to work, 191 work right here, and 10,264 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Sunset Hills on a workday afternoon, 74% more than live here.
2.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where the people who work in Sunset Hills live
Where Sunset Hills clocks in
21% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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 Sunset Hills’ employers do
10,455 jobs are based in Sunset Hills.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sunset Hills, 2013 → 2023: 7,957 → 10,455. 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 Sunset Hills’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way for Sunset Hills’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sunset Hills workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,266 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.
The distance from Sunset Hills to work
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 Sunset Hills, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 3,996 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.9% of Sunset Hills households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sunset Hills’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Sunset Hills ranks: 288th of 2,855 U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 286 | North Bend WA | 8,758 | $175K | 4.1% | 2.3% | 7% | A |
| 287 | North Star DE | 7,834 | $151K | 3.5% | 3.1% | 4% | A |
| 288 | Sunset Hills MO | 9,075 | $138K | 3.7% | 4.1% | 5% | A |
| 289 | Camp Hill PA | 8,199 | $116K | 6.6% | 2.0% | 6% | A |
| 290 | Seward Township IL | 6,806 | $122K | 7.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,855 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Sunset Hills, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Sunset Hills and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Kirkwood (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sunset Hills workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset Hills | – | A | B+ | 21 min | $138,144 |
| Crestwood | under 3% | A+ | B | 20 min | $107,169 |
| Kirkwood | 3% | A | A− | 20 min | $121,270 |
| Fenton | 3% | A− | B+ | 25 min | $101,000 |
| Sappington | 2% | A− | B+ | 21 min | $77,650 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sunset Hills’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 Sunset Hills: questions
What is the median household income in Sunset Hills?
$138,144 (±$31,334) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sunset Hills?
3.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sunset Hills?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sunset Hills work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (21%, 12 mi), Clayton (4%, 9 mi), Chesterfield (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sunset Hills walkable?
Sunset Hills is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sunset Hills without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sunset Hills, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sunset Hills
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.