Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Ball Township are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Only 1% stay in Ball Township for work; outside it, Springfield is the main destination (59%, 9 miles). Poverty touches 1.5% of residents, against 11.8% across Illinois. Jobs and income earn Ball Township A; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Ball Township
Much of Ball Township works one town over
63% of working residents work in a town that borders Ball Township: Springfield (59%) and Chatham (4%). Next door ↓
Ball Township is a place people come home to
There are 474 jobs based in Ball Township, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Ball Township has about 4,700 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Ball Township
66% of Ball Township residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Ball Township pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Most Ball Township residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Ball Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ball Township is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #116 of 768 in Illinois. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ball Township could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How a workday changes Ball Township
On a workday 3,340 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 427 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Ball Township on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.14 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Ball Township
474 jobs are based in Ball Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ball Township, 2013 → 2023: 523 → 474. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ball Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Ball Township commutes less than 9 miles
About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Out of Ball Township to work: where people go
Where Ball Township clocks in
59% of workers
4% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Ball Township’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ball Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,029 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Ball Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ball Township is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #489 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,573 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 52% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Ball Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ball Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ball Township next to U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200: 415th of 3,071 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 413 | Aiea HI | 9,087 | $140K | 5.3% | 3.8% | 2% | A |
| 414 | Temple GA | 6,564 | $91K | 2.6% | 1.0% | 4% | A |
| 415 | Ball Township IL | 7,588 | $141K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A |
| 416 | Cohasset MA | 8,461 | $199K | 3.0% | 4.6% | 10% | A |
| 417 | Watertown Township MI | 5,890 | $115K | 3.0% | 3.5% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ball Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns next door employ 63% of Ball Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ball Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball Township | – | A | B | 27 min | $140,753 |
| Capital Township | under 1% | C | A | 17 min | $65,902 |
| Springfield | 59% | C | A | 17 min | $66,064 |
| Chatham | 4% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $106,773 |
| Chatham Township | under 1% | A− | B+ | 19 min | $88,959 |
| Divernon Township | under 1% | C+ | C | 27 min | $76,971 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Springfield. Darker towns draw more of Ball Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ball Township: questions
What is the median household income in Ball Township?
$140,753 (±$10,148) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ball Township?
1.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ball Township?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ball Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (59%, 9 mi), Chatham (4%, 3 mi), Chicago (2%, 182 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ball Township walkable?
Ball Township is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ball Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ball Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ball Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.