Work & commute · Houston

Work & commute in Houston, MO

About one in 3 of Houston’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Springfield (7%), Licking (5%) and Lebanon (3%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

32%

227 of 706 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 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 479 Houston residents head out of town to work, 227 work right here, and 1,691 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Houston.

479live here, work elsewhere

227live and work here

1,691work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Houston goes to work

Houston (in town)right here

32%227

Springfield73.7 mi away

7%49

Licking13.6 mi away

5%32

Lebanon45.3 mi away

3%22

Fort Leonard Wood31.4 mi away

3%19

West Plains40.6 mi away

2%17

Lynch9.1 mi away

2%15

Rolla44.6 mi away

2%14

Mountain Grove21.2 mi away

2%13

Piney0.7 mi away

2%13

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%285

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

How far

How far Houston commutes

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

37%

15%

18%

30%

37%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Houston is a job hub

2.72jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Houston are

1,918 jobs are based in Houston. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Houston’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Houston

1,918 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month45%

Over $3,333 a month36%

Jobs Houston residents hold

706 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month40%

−7%

Jobs based in Houston, 2013 → 2023: 2,061 → 1,918. 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.