Downtown Webb City Historic District · Photo: Kaethesson · CC BY-SA 3.0For about two in five of its working residents, Webb City is a commute to Joplin
Measured by household income, Webb City is behind 65% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Webb City are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 6% 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
The commute and the jobs: Webb City in brief
Most Webb City residents work close to home
70% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Webb City are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Webb City earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Webb City is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #142 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Webb City’s grade up (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Webb City could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Where the trip to work from Webb City ends
Where Webb City clocks in
40% of workers
8% 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.
How far it is to work from Webb City
About 18% 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.
The trip to work from Webb City: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Webb City workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,348 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who works in Webb City, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,815 residents head out to work, 550 work right here, and 3,728 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 (0.80 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.
What work there is in Webb City: 4,278 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Webb City, 2013 → 2023: 3,566 → 4,278. 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 Webb City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Webb City start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Webb City is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #193 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 5,721 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). 6.9% of Webb City households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Webb City’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Webb City is 1,909th of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,907 | Vidor TX | 9,597 | $62K | 10.7% | 7.4% | 17% | C |
| 1,908 | Sauk Village IL | 9,624 | $70K | 17.6% | 12.6% | 3% | C |
| 1,909 | Webb City MO | 13,459 | $65K | 20.5% | 4.3% | 10% | C |
| 1,910 | Waterford CA | 9,258 | $74K | 13.9% | 7.9% | 4% | C |
| 1,911 | Rockport TX | 11,348 | $72K | 11.9% | 6.1% | 26% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Webb City, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Webb City and its neighbors: 40% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Webb City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Webb City | – | C | C+ | 17 min | $65,469 |
| Joplin | 40% | C | A− | 18 min | $52,097 |
| Carterville | under 1% | C | C | 21 min | $58,849 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Joplin. Darker towns draw more of Webb City’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 Webb City: questions
What is the median household income in Webb City?
$65,469 (±$7,154) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Webb City?
20.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Webb City?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Webb City work?
10% work in town.
Is Webb City walkable?
Webb City is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Webb City without a car?
<1% 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 Webb City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Webb City
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.