Work & commute · Cape Girardeau

Work & commute in Cape Girardeau, MO

47% of Cape Girardeau’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Jackson (5%), St. Louis (3%) and Sikeston (3%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

47%

7,358 of 15,781 working residents

Typical commute

6 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 8,423 Cape Girardeau residents head out of town to work, 7,358 work right here, and 17,593 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cape Girardeau.

8,423live here, work elsewhere

7,358live and work here

17,593work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cape Girardeau goes to work

Cape Girardeau (in town)right here

47%7,358

Jackson7.2 mi away

5%849

St. Louis99 mi away

3%440

Sikeston29.5 mi away

3%429

Scott City6 mi away

2%259

Perryville33.7 mi away

1%222

Poplar Bluff60.4 mi away

1%187

Farmington57.7 mi away

1%158

Creve Coeur105.1 mi away

1%149

Clayton101.4 mi away

1%135

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%5,595

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

How far

How far Cape Girardeau commutes

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

58%

30%

58%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cape Girardeau is a job hub

1.58jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Cape Girardeau are

24,951 jobs are based in Cape Girardeau. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cape Girardeau’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cape Girardeau

24,951 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Cape Girardeau residents hold

15,781 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month46%

−13%

Jobs based in Cape Girardeau, 2013 → 2023: 28,611 → 24,951. 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.