Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Vandalia has lower household incomes than 87% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Vandalia are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 13.9% of residents are in poverty, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. 2% of workers work from home (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Vandalia and work: the main findings
A big share show a job far from home
42% 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 ↓
Vandalia’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Vandalia is Mexico, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (79) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Vandalia than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Vandalia fell from 975 in 2013 to 631 in 2023, −35%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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 858 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Vandalia’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vandalia is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #156 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Vandalia’s grade up (2.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vandalia could be anywhere from D to B−.
How many miles Vandalia commutes
About 42% 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.
What work there is in Vandalia: 631 jobs
631 jobs are based in Vandalia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vandalia, 2013 → 2023: 975 → 631. 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 Vandalia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Vandalia, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 725 residents head out to work, 133 work right here, and 498 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.
0.74 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.
9% of working residents work in Mexico
Where Vandalia clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
About 21 minutes to work from Vandalia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vandalia workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,107 commuters (the 2% 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.
In Vandalia, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vandalia is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #185 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 1,125 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). 4.3% of Vandalia households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Vandalia’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Vandalia is 3,408th of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,406 | Fannett Township PA | 2,498 | $66K | 18.8% | 2.5% | 7% | C |
| 3,407 | Lithonia GA | 2,608 | $62K | 19.5% | 11.7% | 1% | C |
| 3,408 | Vandalia MO | 3,029 | $50K | 13.9% | 2.0% | 16% | C |
| 3,409 | White Township MN | 3,088 | $55K | 14.0% | 2.3% | 13% | C |
| 3,410 | Calvert City KY | 2,510 | $49K | 12.8% | 4.2% | 15% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Vandalia, 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 Vandalia: questions
What is the median household income in Vandalia?
$50,313 (±$18,881) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vandalia?
13.9%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vandalia?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vandalia work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mexico (9%, 23 mi), Columbia (6%, 51 mi), Jefferson City (5%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vandalia walkable?
Vandalia is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vandalia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vandalia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vandalia
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.