Work & commute · Lamar

Work & commute in Lamar, MO

Most working residents leave Lamar for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Lamar (21%), Springfield (8%) and Joplin (6%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 574 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 554 Lamar residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 327 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lamar.

554live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

327work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lamar goes to work

Lamar1.6 mi away

21%120

Springfield57.1 mi away

8%47

Joplin32.8 mi away

6%36

Carthage25.2 mi away

6%35

Pittsburg, KS25.2 mi away

4%25

Nevada23.9 mi away

3%20

Lamar Heights2.3 mi away

2%13

Golden City11.7 mi away

2%13

St. Louis231.6 mi away

2%10

Liberal14.8 mi away

2%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%246

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

How far

How far Lamar commutes

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

29%

22%

17%

32%

29%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lamar is a commuter town

0.60jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Lamar are

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

Jobs based in Lamar

347 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less38%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month27%

Jobs Lamar residents hold

574 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month45%

−3%

Jobs based in Lamar, 2013 → 2023: 359 → 347. 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.