Almost 100,000 Missourians Work from Home
The 2005 American Community Survey (ACS) says there were 2,683,452 workers aged 16 and over in Missouri. 97,176 of these workers, or 3.62 percent, worked at home.
Christian County
Leads State
Some counties have far more individuals working at home than
others.
Of the 13 counties plus St. Louis City the ACS surveyed, Christian County had the greatest percentage of workers working at home, 5.16 percent. This may be due to the county's demographics -- an unusually high percentage of individuals aged 65 and older -- the nature of the work these individuals performed, and availability of high-speed internet access. The latter is generally considered a prerequisite for working at home.
Cass County was second, at 4.67 percent; third was Jasper, 3.92 percent.
The City of St. Louis was next to last, at 2.56 percent; Buchanan last at 1.88 percent.
In terms of total number of workers who worked at home, St. Louis County was first, with 15,559 such workers; Jackson, second at 10,274; and St. Charles third at 6,653. These counties have well-developed business infrastructures and are the most populous.
However, the percentages point to the conclusion that heavily urbanized areas are not necessarily the most conducive to flexible work schedules.
Missouri and
Surrounding States
More Missourians worked from home than in all but one neighboring
state, Illinois. Five of the surrounding states, including Illinois, have a lower percentage or
workers working from home.
The state with the least number of workers, Nebraska, also had the
highest percentage of workers working from home, 4.47 percent.
But the state with the second least, Arkansas, had the lowest
percentage at 2.60.
