Work & commute · Alton

Work & commute in Alton, MO

Most working residents leave Alton for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are West Plains (17%), Thayer (5%) and Kansas City (3%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

40 of 224 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 184 Alton residents head out of town to work, 40 work right here, and 306 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alton.

184live here, work elsewhere

40live and work here

306work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alton goes to work

Alton (in town)right here

18%40

West Plains26.6 mi away

17%37

Thayer14.3 mi away

5%11

Kansas City240.7 mi away

3%6

Doniphan31.9 mi away

2%5

Jefferson City136.6 mi away

2%5

Springfield110.6 mi away

2%5

Mountain Home, AR60.3 mi away

1%3

Poplar Bluff54.4 mi away

1%3

Thomasville10.5 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%106

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Alton commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

32%

18%

24%

27%

32%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alton is a job hub

1.54jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Alton are

346 jobs are based in Alton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alton

346 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month48%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Alton residents hold

224 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month47%

Over $3,333 a month29%

−45%

Jobs based in Alton, 2013 → 2023: 630 → 346. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.