Household incomes in Wellston are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 35.4% of residents; Missouri has 12.6%. Jobs and income earn Wellston C; getting around on foot earns it A+. For 5% of workers, the job is at home, against 13% across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Wellston stands out on work
Most Wellston residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Wellston and St. Louis trade workers both ways
St. Louis is the top workplace for Wellston residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Wellston come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Wellston is where the jobs are
Wellston has 809 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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 539 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Wellston’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Wellston is better than 28% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Wellston’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (12.1%) is left out: Wellston’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, Wellston could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The commute from Wellston, by distance
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.
Where Wellston’s workforce comes from
Where Wellston clocks in
27% 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.
Who works in Wellston, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 521 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 791 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Wellston on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Wellston makes things: 31% of its jobs are in goods
809 jobs are based in Wellston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wellston, 2013 → 2023: 1,117 → 809. 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 Wellston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Wellston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wellston workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 682 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.
Wellston is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wellston is among the most walkable U.S. towns. Both inputs place Wellston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 719 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 93% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 22.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 20.5% of Wellston households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 17% of Wellston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100, Wellston ranks 3,508th of 5,794 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | LaBarque Creek MO | 1,457 | $133K | 1.1% | 1.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,506 | Springwater WI | 1,273 | $71K | 10.1% | 5.6% | 6% | C |
| 3,507 | Pinconning MI | 1,176 | $65K | 12.1% | 4.2% | 11% | C |
| 3,508 | Wellston MO | 1,580 | $45K | 35.4% | 12.1% | 3% | C |
| 3,509 | Creswell Township KS | 1,921 | $85K | 17.2% | 0.8% | 6% | C |
| 3,510 | Hinton Township MI | 1,111 | $60K | 6.5% | 4.2% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | 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 Wellston, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Wellston and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to University City (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wellston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellston | – | C | A+ | 20 min | $44,957 |
| Hillsdale | under 3% | C | A− | 23 min | $37,583 |
| University City | 3% | B | A+ | 22 min | $80,694 |
| Pagedale | under 3% | C− | A | 23 min | $31,250 |
| Normandy | under 3% | C | A+ | 19 min | $29,379 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wellston’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 Wellston: questions
What is the median household income in Wellston?
$44,957 (±$33,792) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wellston?
35.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wellston?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wellston work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (27%, 4 mi), Maryland Heights (6%, 10 mi), Bridgeton (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wellston walkable?
Wellston is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.8 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wellston without a car?
17% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. 93% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wellston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wellston
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.