Work & commute · Liberal

Work & commute in Liberal, MO

Most working residents leave Liberal for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Pittsburg (12%), Lamar (9%) and Joplin (6%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 249 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 229 Liberal residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 138 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Liberal.

229live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

138work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Liberal goes to work

Pittsburg, KS14.1 mi away

12%30

Lamar13.8 mi away

9%22

Liberal (in town)right here

8%20

Joplin33.4 mi away

6%15

Springfield71.8 mi away

5%13

Carthage30.4 mi away

5%12

Kansas City108.2 mi away

5%12

Nevada21.8 mi away

4%11

Union11.8 mi away

3%8

Webb City29 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%101

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

How far

How far Liberal commutes

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

15%

35%

19%

31%

15%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Liberal is a commuter town

0.63jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Liberal are

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

Jobs based in Liberal

158 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Liberal residents hold

249 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month51%

−20%

Jobs based in Liberal, 2013 → 2023: 197 → 158. 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.