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Business Community - Labor Force

In 2007, eastern Jackson County contained about 15 percent of the metro area labor force with 148,829 employed persons. Of these employed people, 27 percent work at home or commute less than 15 minutes to work. Another 35 percent of these people commute 15 to 30 minutes, indicating that most people live a relatively short distance to surrounding job centers. Only 11 percent of commuters travel 45 minutes or more to work. Overall, the labor force characteristics of eastern Jackson County's population indicate they have a solid educational background.

Approximately 87.5 percent of the area's employed residents have completed high school and a significant portion have some college education (26 percent). Just over 30 percent of adults in this region have an associate degree or higher. In general, the industry distribution of employed residents in eastern Jackson County is most heavily weighted toward education, health and social services which make up 18 percent of the workforce, similar to the metro area. Other significant sectors include retail with 12.2 percent of workers, manufacturing with 11.7 percent, finance, insurance and real estate with 9.1 percent, and professional and administrative services with 8.5 percent. Generally, the distribution of resident workers by industry is similar to the metro area as a whole.

Eastern Jackson County is generally quite similar to the metro area in terms of its occupational mix, although eastern Jackson County includes slightly more sales and office workers than the metro area – 30 percent versus 28.6 percent. Looking at the detailed distribution of workers by occupation, the primary occupations of residents in eastern Jackson County include office and administrative workers, managers in business and financial fields, sales workers and other professionals including teachers. Compared to the metro area, eastern Jackson County has a slightly higher concentration of office and administrative workers and slightly fewer managerial positions.