Whiteman AFB has lower family incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Whiteman AFB is better than 10% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (C+). Without college students, the poverty rate is 14.7%, against 11.9% across Missouri. Only 5% work in Whiteman AFB; the top destination outside it is Warrensburg (11%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Whiteman AFB, in brief
A big share show a job far from home
58% 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 ↓
Commutes from Whiteman AFB are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Whiteman AFB pay better than its residents’ jobs
69% of the jobs based in Whiteman AFB pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 43% of the jobs Whiteman AFB residents hold. 94% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Whiteman AFB. 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 505 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Whiteman AFB gets the Jobs & income grade it does
The poverty rate holds Whiteman AFB’s grade up; family income pulls it down ($54,440, U.S. $99,999).
13% of Whiteman AFB’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (16% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 14.7%, against 13.3% for all residents. Unemployment (3.6%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($54,440), since student households pull the household median down ($54,641).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Whiteman AFB could be anywhere from D− to C.
Whiteman AFB’s commute, mile by mile
About 58% 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.
A commute of about 10 minutes in Whiteman AFB
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whiteman AFB workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,737 commuters (the 6% 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.
69% of the jobs in Whiteman AFB pay over $3,333 a month
423 jobs are based in Whiteman AFB.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whiteman AFB, 2013 → 2023: 421 → 423. 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 Whiteman AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Whiteman AFB, and who commutes in
On a workday 479 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 397 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 (0.84 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.
Out of Whiteman AFB to work: where people go
Where Whiteman AFB clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Getting around Whiteman AFB: mostly by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.2% across Missouri, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,844 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). 0.6% of Whiteman AFB households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Whiteman AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Whiteman AFB compares with U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,839 | Squaw Valley CA | 3,361 | $50K | 16.3% | 5.0% | 4% | D |
| 3,840 | Hardwick GA | 3,402 | $40K | 23.1% | 5.2% | 2% | D |
| 3,841 | Whiteman AFB MO | 3,517 | $55K | 13.3% | 3.6% | 5% | D |
| 3,842 | Cassville MO | 3,301 | $60K | 31.3% | 6.1% | 25% | D |
| 3,843 | Donora PA | 4,462 | $40K | 29.6% | 12.7% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,221 | 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 Whiteman AFB, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Around Whiteman AFB: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Knob Noster (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Whiteman AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteman AFB | – | D | C+ | 10 min | $54,641 |
| Knob Noster | 4% | C | C− | 21 min | $62,353 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Whiteman AFB’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.
- Students. 13% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Whiteman AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Whiteman AFB?
$54,641 (±$9,294) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whiteman AFB?
13.3% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 14.7%. Missouri: 12.6%.
How long is the commute from Whiteman AFB?
10 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whiteman AFB work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warrensburg (11%, 9 mi), Kansas City (8%, 60 mi), Sedalia (7%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Whiteman AFB walkable?
Whiteman AFB is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Whiteman AFB without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whiteman AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whiteman AFB
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.