Licking is a very small city located in the state of Missouri. With a population of 2,969 people and just one neighborhood, Licking is the 212th largest community in Missouri.
Licking is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Licking is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Licking who work in law enforcement and fire fighting (17.15%), food service (13.75%), and sales jobs (8.83%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 10.47% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
The population of Licking has one of the lowest overall levels of education in the country: only 5.70% of people over 25 hold a college degree. The national average for all municipalities is 21.84%.
The per capita income in Licking in 2022 was $13,520, which is low income relative to Missouri and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $54,080 for a family of four. However, Licking contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Licking also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 37.51% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Licking is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Licking home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Licking residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Licking include German, Irish, English, Scandinavian, and Hungarian.
The most common language spoken in Licking is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Licking, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
An interesting characteristic about the neighborhood is that there are more incarcerated people living here than 99.4% of neighborhoods in the U.S. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, currently with 1 out of every 100 adults in the country are incarcerated as a punishment for crimes committed. The extremely high incarceration rate of this neighborhood could mean that a prison, juvenile detention facility or other correctional facility occupies a large proportion of the neighborhood, or contains a large portion of the neighborhood's population.
In addition, neighborhoodScout's exclusive research revealed that 96.0% of the adult residents in the neighborhood do not have a 4-year college degree, which is a lower rate of college graduated adults than found in 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
From major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 98.4% of all American neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 13.5% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 96.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 10.1% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.8% of all neighborhoods in America.
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 Licking are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 94.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 37.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 87.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 43.2% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 30.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in executive, management, and professional occupations (17.3%), and 13.5% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
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 Licking, MO, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (12.3%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (11.2%), and residents who report Irish roots (10.7%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (1.7%), along with some Hungarian ancestry residents (1.4%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.0% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America. However, there is also a significant group of residents (10.1%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (70.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (18.5%) and 5.1% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.