Work & commute · West Alton

Work & commute in West Alton, MO

Most working residents leave West Alton for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are St. Charles (16%), St. Louis (9%) and St. Peters (8%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 185 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 183 West Alton residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 294 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in West Alton.

183live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

294work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where West Alton goes to work

St. Charles17.4 mi away

16%29

St. Louis15.9 mi away

9%17

St. Peters22.3 mi away

8%15

O'Fallon28.5 mi away

5%10

Maryland Heights17.6 mi away

5%9

Berkeley10.7 mi away

3%5

Creve Coeur18.9 mi away

3%5

Chesterfield24.7 mi away

3%5

Fenton26.7 mi away

2%3

Hazelwood11.4 mi away

2%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%84

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

How far

How far West Alton commutes

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

69%

17%

7%Under 10 mi

69%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

West Alton is a job hub

1.60jobs 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 West Alton are

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

Jobs based in West Alton

296 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities76%

Services (health, schools, offices…)10%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month8%

Over $3,333 a month86%

Jobs West Alton residents hold

185 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−18%

Jobs based in West Alton, 2013 → 2023: 360 → 296. 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.