Work & commute · South Fork

Work & commute in South Fork, MO

Most working residents leave South Fork for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are West Plains (35%), Springfield (13%) and Poplar Bluff (3%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 62 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

— 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 61 South Fork residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 120 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Fork.

61live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

120work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Fork goes to work

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

How far

How far South Fork commutes

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

34%

18%

41%

34%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

41%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Fork is a job hub

1.95jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Fork are

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

Jobs based in South Fork

121 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)67%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)26%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs South Fork residents hold

62 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month44%

+42%

Jobs based in South Fork, 2013 → 2023: 85 → 121. 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.