Wellston is a very small city located in the state of Missouri. With a population of 1,583 people and just one neighborhood, Wellston is the 315th largest community in Missouri. Wellston has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.
Wellston is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Wellston is a city of professionals, service providers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Wellston who work in healthcare (30.98%), management occupations (12.50%), and healthcare suport services (9.18%).
Despite the fact that it is a small city, Wellston has quite a few people who take public transportation – mostly a streetcar - for their daily commute to work. This helps to fill a real need in the city for affordable transportation.
The population of Wellston has a very low overall level of education: only 9.93% of people over 25 hold a 4-year college degree or higher.
The per capita income in Wellston in 2022 was $21,718, which is low income relative to Missouri and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $86,872 for a family of four. However, Wellston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Wellston also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 35.05% of its population below the federal poverty line.
The people who call Wellston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wellston residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Wellston include Italian, German, European, African, and Yugoslavian.
The most common language spoken in Wellston is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and Tagalog.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Of note, 60.2% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.
In addition, single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the neighborhood about it; they already know. 18.7% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.2% of American neighborhoods. Further NeighborhoodScout research showed strong statistical correlations among high rates of children living in single parent households, and neighborhood crime, particularly violent crime, neighborhood poverty, and, importantly, the percentage of low weight births and rates of infant mortality.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Wellston are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 89.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 60.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 97.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 50.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 20.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (16.4%), and 12.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.7% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Wellston, MO, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Sub-Saharan African (2.1%). There are also a number of people of African ancestry (2.1%), and residents who report Italian roots (1.6%).
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (48.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (78.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (8.1%) and 5.6% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.