Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnemployment in Carthage Township (0.1%) is lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
3% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole. For jobs and income Carthage Township is better than 71% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in three stay in Carthage Township for work; outside it, Carthage is the main destination (26%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Carthage Township
Carthage Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Carthage Township went from 944 in 2014 to 1,751 in 2024, +85%. The jobs ↓
Carthage Township and Carthage trade workers both ways
Carthage is the top workplace for Carthage Township residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Carthage Township come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Carthage Township 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 ↓
Few Carthage Township workers work from home
Only 3% 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 2024, 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.
What’s behind Carthage Township’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Carthage Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carthage Township could be anywhere from B to A−.
What Carthage Township’s employers do
1,751 jobs are based in Carthage Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carthage Township, 2014 → 2024: 944 → 1,751. 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 Carthage Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Carthage Township work
Where Carthage Township clocks in
26% of workers
5% 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.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Carthage Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carthage Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,502 commuters (the 3% 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.
Who commutes out of Carthage Township, and who commutes in
On a workday 913 residents head out to work, 435 work right here, and 1,316 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Carthage Township on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How far Carthage Township’s workers travel
About 27% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Carthage Township commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 1,542 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). 5.4% of Carthage Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Carthage Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Carthage Township ranks: 1,179th of 4,703 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,177 | Wyoming PA | 3,163 | $72K | 5.4% | 3.3% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,178 | Manor PA | 3,482 | $139K | 4.9% | 11.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,179 | Carthage Township IL | 2,848 | $80K | 5.2% | 0.1% | 32% | B+ |
| 1,180 | Carlyle Township IL | 3,778 | $88K | 6.6% | 2.1% | 17% | B+ |
| 1,181 | Spencer Township IN | 2,408 | $78K | 1.6% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 Carthage Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Carthage Township and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carthage Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carthage Township | – | B+ | C+ | 19 min | $79,628 |
| Prairie Township | under 3% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Hancock Township | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Pilot Grove Township | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Harmony Township | under 3% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Prairie Township, Hancock Township, Pilot Grove Township and Harmony Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carthage Township’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 Carthage Township: questions
What is the median household income in Carthage Township?
$79,628 (±$14,997) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carthage Township?
5.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carthage Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carthage Township work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carthage (26%, 2 mi), Macomb (6%, 22 mi), Quincy (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Carthage Township walkable?
Carthage Township is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carthage Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carthage Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carthage Township
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.