Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCarlyle has lower unemployment (2.9%) than 71% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 22 minutes (Illinois 28, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Carlyle B; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in seven work in Carlyle itself; outside it, Breese draws the most (9%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Carlyle
Commutes from Carlyle are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Carlyle
57% of Carlyle residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Carlyle pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 84% leave town for their job. 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.
Carlyle’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carlyle is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #422 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Carlyle’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carlyle could be anywhere from C− to A.
From Carlyle, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carlyle workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,431 commuters (the 12% 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.
What Carlyle’s employers do
1,640 jobs are based in Carlyle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carlyle, 2013 → 2023: 1,542 → 1,640. 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 Carlyle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Carlyle
On a workday 1,110 residents head out to work, 210 work right here, and 1,430 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Carlyle on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
Where Carlyle’s working residents head each day
Where Carlyle clocks in
9% 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.
Where in the region Carlyle works
About 21% 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.
Carlyle is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carlyle is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #412 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 1,624 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). 3.2% of Carlyle households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Carlyle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300, Carlyle ranks 1,772nd of 4,698 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,770 | Stafford NY | 2,386 | $88K | 7.8% | 4.5% | 3% | B |
| 1,771 | Kurtistown HI | 3,151 | $96K | 4.8% | 3.9% | 2% | B |
| 1,772 | Carlyle IL | 3,188 | $77K | 7.9% | 2.9% | 16% | B |
| 1,773 | Missouri Valley IA | 2,616 | $72K | 9.7% | 3.3% | 22% | B |
| 1,774 | Ogdensburg NJ | 2,319 | $106K | 7.0% | 10.0% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Carlyle, 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 Carlyle: questions
What is the median household income in Carlyle?
$77,273 (±$18,188) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carlyle?
7.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carlyle?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carlyle work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Breese (9%, 8 mi), Centralia (5%, 15 mi), Belleville (4%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carlyle walkable?
Carlyle is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carlyle without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carlyle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carlyle
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.