Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Beardstown earn less than those in 73% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Beardstown C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. 13.7% of residents are in poverty; Illinois has 11.8%. Home is the office for 2% of workers; Illinois has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Beardstown
Jobs in Beardstown have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Beardstown went from 1,550 in 2013 to 3,894 in 2023, +151%. The jobs ↓
Beardstown makes and builds things
55% of the jobs based in Beardstown are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Beardstown residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Beardstown are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Beardstown workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Beardstown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Beardstown is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #684 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Beardstown’s grade up (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Beardstown could be anywhere from D to B−.
Beardstown makes things: 55% of its jobs are in goods
3,894 jobs are based in Beardstown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beardstown, 2013 → 2023: 1,550 → 3,894. 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 Beardstown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Beardstown, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beardstown workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,479 commuters (the 2% 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.
A workday in Beardstown: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,691 residents head out to work, 1,242 work right here, and 2,652 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,700 people are in Beardstown on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Mount Sterling
Where Beardstown clocks in
10% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Beardstown
About 26% 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.
Driving is how Beardstown gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Beardstown is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #364 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 2,520 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.8% of Beardstown households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Beardstown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,476 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,700, Beardstown comes 2,811th 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,809 | Flatwoods KY | 7,439 | $60K | 18.4% | 6.4% | 6% | C− |
| 2,810 | South Apopka FL | 7,300 | $61K | 28.1% | 9.6% | <1% | C− |
| 2,811 | Beardstown IL | 5,691 | $61K | 13.7% | 4.6% | 42% | C− |
| 2,812 | Mount Pleasant TN | 5,103 | $50K | 22.8% | 3.8% | 10% | C− |
| 2,813 | Prosser WA | 6,654 | $77K | 16.8% | 8.0% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,476 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Beardstown, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
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 Beardstown: questions
What is the median household income in Beardstown?
$60,587 (±$6,012) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beardstown?
13.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beardstown?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beardstown work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Sterling (10%, 18 mi), Springfield (5%, 44 mi), Jacksonville (4%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Beardstown walkable?
Beardstown is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Beardstown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beardstown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beardstown
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.