Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Carmi are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home (Illinois 16%). The poverty rate is 21.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois. For jobs and income Carmi is better than 19% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Carmi, in brief
Carmi trades workers with the towns around it
Carmi has about as many jobs (2,206) as working residents (2,032), but they are mostly different people: 1,425 residents leave for work each day while 1,599 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Carmi are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Carmi are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. 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.
What’s behind Carmi’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Carmi’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($47,827, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carmi could be anywhere from D to C+.
Carmi by day and by night
On a workday 1,425 residents head out to work, 607 work right here, and 1,599 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 (1.09 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.
Carmi’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carmi workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,757 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.
6% of working residents work in Evansville
Where Carmi clocks in
6% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Jobs in Carmi: what the 2,206 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carmi, 2013 → 2023: 2,558 → 2,206. 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 Carmi’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Carmi goes to work
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.
The commute in Carmi is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 1,848 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). 11.6% of Carmi households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carmi’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Carmi is 3,234th among 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,232 | Valley Township OH | 3,580 | $64K | 15.3% | 2.7% | 10% | C− |
| 3,233 | Red Oak IA | 5,388 | $50K | 21.9% | 2.9% | 33% | C− |
| 3,234 | Carmi IL | 4,623 | $48K | 21.8% | 2.7% | 30% | C− |
| 3,235 | Kaser NY | 6,121 | $27K | 65.5% | 7.0% | 3% | C− |
| 3,236 | Newport NC | 4,500 | $56K | 10.7% | 6.2% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | 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 Carmi, 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 Carmi: questions
What is the median household income in Carmi?
$47,827 (±$13,005) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carmi?
21.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carmi?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carmi work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Evansville (6%, 35 mi), Albion (3%, 21 mi), Mount Vernon (3%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carmi walkable?
Carmi is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carmi without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carmi, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carmi
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.