Photo: Andy McMurray · CC BY 2.5Bull Valley has higher household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
Hardly any work in Bull Valley itself; outside it, Woodstock draws the most (13%, 4 miles). Below the poverty line: 6.1% of residents (Illinois 11.8%). The two grades for Bull Valley are A for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bull Valley, in a few figures
Bull Valley is a place people come home to
There are 150 jobs based in Bull Valley, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bull Valley has about 750 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Bull Valley workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 533 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Bull Valley gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Bull Valley is better than 92% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($191,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Bull Valley’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bull Valley could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How many people are in Bull Valley by day
On a workday 533 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 150 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Bull Valley on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.28 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 2024, primary jobs.
Each way, about 33 minutes from Bull Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bull Valley workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 447 commuters (the 22% 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.
Out of Bull Valley to work: where people go
Where Bull Valley clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
Bull Valley makes things: 32% of its jobs are in goods
150 jobs are based in Bull Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bull Valley, 2014 → 2024: 98 → 150. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bull Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Bull Valley goes to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Bull Valley gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bull Valley is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 574 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 4% 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 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 3.5% of Bull Valley households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Bull Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bull Valley is 137th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Glenmore WI | 1,050 | $100K | 3.0% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| 136 | Winchester MO | 1,400 | $88K | 4.5% | 2.3% | <1% | A |
| 137 | Bull Valley IL | 1,131 | $191K | 6.1% | 6.6% | 0% | A |
| 138 | Greenville IN | 1,452 | $135K | 5.6% | 4.1% | 2% | A |
| 139 | Eureka Township MN | 1,358 | $100K | 5.0% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Bull Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
19% of Bull Valley works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bull Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bull Valley | – | A | B− | 33 min | $191,250 |
| Wonder Lake | under 2% | B+ | D | 37 min | $94,655 |
| Woodstock | 13% | A− | A− | 25 min | $82,758 |
| McHenry | 6% | A− | B+ | 29 min | $86,315 |
| Greenwood Township | under 2% | B+ | C | 31 min | $98,214 |
| McHenry Township | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 31 min | $94,531 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Woodstock. Darker towns draw more of Bull Valley’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 2024, 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 Bull Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Bull Valley?
$191,250 (±$32,483) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bull Valley?
6.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bull Valley?
33 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bull Valley work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Woodstock (13%, 4 mi), Chicago (8%, 48 mi), McHenry (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bull Valley walkable?
Bull Valley is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bull Valley without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bull Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bull Valley
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.