Unveiling the economic powerhouse of Missouri: St. Louis Workforce Development Area
COMMUTING PROFILE ST. LOUIS REGION MARCH 2025
Overview
The St. Louis Workforce Development Area (WDA) consists of four counties in the east central portion of Missouri: Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis County. The region also includes St. Louis City.
In 2022, the St. Louis WDA employed 41.7 percent of Missouri’s workforce. Most workers in the region (52.6%) were aged 30 to 54. Workers aged 29 or younger were 23.4 percent of the workforce and those 55 or older were 24 percent.
In 2022, over 59.1 percent of workers in the St. Louis WDA earned more than $3,333 per month. Of the remaining workers, 14.7 percent earned $1,250 per month or less and 26.2 percent earned between $1,251 and $3,333 per month. In 2022, there were more men (51.1%) than women (48.9%) in the St. Louis WDA workforce.
In 2022, 46.5 percent of employees living in the St. Louis WDA commuted fewer than 10 miles to work, 38.2 percent commuted 10 to 24 miles, 8.3 percent commuted 25 to 50 miles, and 7 percent commuted over 50 miles.
Industry
Health Care and Social Assistance was the largest employing industry in the region at 155,773 jobs (16.6% of total jobs in the region). Retail Trade; Manufacturing; Accommodation and Food Services; Professional, Scientifc, and Technical Services; Administration & Support, Waste Management and Remediation; and Finance and Insurance were other major industry sectors having over 6 percent of the region’s employment share.
Where the St. Louis Labor Force Works and Lives
Of the 938,866 workers employed in the St. Louis WDA in 2022, 79 percent commuted to work from within the region. The remainder (21%) commuted into St. Louis WDA from homes outside of the region.
Of the region’s residents who were in the workforce, 9.6 percent, or 78,484, commuted to jobs outside of the region. The St. Louis WDA attracted 196,797 workers from outside of the region.
More than 742,000 St. Louis WDA residents lived and worked in the region. The top fve Missouri counties where St. Louis WDA workers resided (in descending order) were St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, and Franklin County. St. Louis County and St. Louis City were home to almost 72 percent of the region’s workforce in 2022.
Infow/Outfow
Overall, 820,553 employees lived in the St. Louis WDA and 938,866 workers were employed in the region, resulting in a net infow of 118,313 workers into the region.
The following table shows the worker composition for the job infow and outfow groups as well as worker characteristics of the interior job fow. Of the 742,069 individuals who lived and worked in the region, 23.1 percent were aged 29 years or younger, 52.5 percent were aged 30 to 54 years, and 24.3 percent were aged 55 years or older. More than 64 percent worked in the Services industry. Click here to view
Commuter Pattern
The top fve counties where St. Louis WDA residents worked (in descending order) were St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin. All but St. Louis County had at least half of their residents commuting outside their county of residence for work. The table below indicates that many workers commuted to another county for employment. The St. Louis Region’s location in the state, in addition to Interstates 70, 40, 55, and U.S. Highway access, improves the ability of St. Louis WDA residents to commute to their workplace.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, OnTheMap Application and LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), (Beginning of Quarter Employment, 2nd Quarter of 2022*), URL: https://onthemap.ces.census.gov/ *2022 is the latest year for which LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (commuting data) is available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
To maintain the consistency of data in this report, all relevant data used is also from 2022, although later data for some data points was available. This report was prepared by the staff of the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC). All data in this report was current at the time of publication and is subject to revision.
This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily refect the offcial position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the infor-mation or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.
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