Household incomes in Carbon Cliff are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 19.1% of residents, next to 11.8% for Illinois as a whole. Carbon Cliff grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. For 5% of workers, the job is at home, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Carbon Cliff
Commutes from Carbon Cliff are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Carbon Cliff than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Carbon Cliff fell from 1,203 in 2013 to 839 in 2023, −30%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Carbon Cliff pay little
26% of the jobs based in Carbon Cliff pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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; with 781 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Carbon Cliff: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Carbon Cliff is better than 29% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Carbon Cliff’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (4.9%) is left out: Carbon Cliff’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, Carbon Cliff could be anywhere from C− to B−.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Carbon Cliff
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carbon Cliff workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 827 commuters (the 5% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
839 jobs are based in Carbon Cliff.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carbon Cliff, 2013 → 2023: 1,203 → 839. 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 Carbon Cliff’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Carbon Cliff for work, and who comes in
On a workday 764 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 822 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 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.
14% of working residents work in Moline
Where Carbon Cliff clocks in
14% of workers
13% of workers
13% 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.
Miles to work from Carbon Cliff
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.
In Carbon Cliff, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carbon Cliff is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 868 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). 6.1% of Carbon Cliff households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carbon Cliff’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carbon Cliff places 3,231st of 5,343 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| 37 | Port Barrington IL | 1,584 | $150K | 2.7% | 2.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | Drexel OH | 1,751 | $32K | 15.7% | 16.8% | 2% | C |
| 3,230 | Priest River ID | 1,851 | $59K | 5.0% | 1.9% | 10% | C |
| 3,231 | Carbon Cliff IL | 1,810 | $56K | 19.1% | 4.9% | 2% | C |
| 3,232 | Winamac IN | 2,365 | $47K | 23.9% | 0.0% | 33% | C |
| 3,233 | Ovid Township MI | 2,217 | $73K | 8.9% | 7.1% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Carbon Cliff, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Carbon Cliff compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carbon Cliff workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon Cliff | – | C | B+ | 19 min | $55,536 |
| Silvis | 5% | B− | B | 20 min | $62,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Silvis. Darker towns draw more of Carbon Cliff’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 Carbon Cliff: questions
What is the median household income in Carbon Cliff?
$55,536 (±$12,603) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carbon Cliff?
19.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carbon Cliff?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carbon Cliff work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Moline (14%, 5 mi), East Moline (13%, 2 mi), Davenport (13%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carbon Cliff walkable?
Carbon Cliff is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carbon Cliff 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 Carbon Cliff, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carbon Cliff
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.