Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFewer people are out of work in Carthage (0.1%) than in 98% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Carthage; the top destination outside it is Macomb (6%, 24 miles). Carthage grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers (Illinois 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Carthage at work: what stands out
Carthage has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Carthage went from 971 in 2013 to 1,540 in 2023, +59%. The jobs ↓
Few Carthage workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Carthage 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Carthage
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carthage is better than 67% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Carthage’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 24% 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 could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Inside Carthage’s 1,540 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carthage, 2013 → 2023: 971 → 1,540. 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 Carthage’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes to work from Carthage
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carthage workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,213 commuters (the 1% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Carthage
On a workday 806 residents head out to work, 370 work right here, and 1,170 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Carthage on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
The places Carthage commutes to
Where Carthage clocks in
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.
How far Carthage’s workers travel
About 28% 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.
Driving is how Carthage gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carthage is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 1,230 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). 6.5% of Carthage households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Carthage’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Carthage ranks: 1,337th of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,335 | Cook Township PA | 1,836 | $71K | 5.9% | 2.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,336 | Nevada City CA | 3,174 | $76K | 8.9% | 0.0% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,337 | Carthage IL | 2,393 | $77K | 6.7% | 0.1% | 31% | B+ |
| 1,338 | Washington Township IN | 2,916 | $69K | 6.3% | 2.2% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,339 | Nedrose Township ND | 2,204 | $124K | 0.7% | 9.7% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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, 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 Carthage: questions
What is the median household income in Carthage?
$77,004 (±$9,214) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carthage?
6.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carthage?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carthage work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Macomb (6%, 24 mi), Keokuk (3%, 14 mi), Galesburg (3%, 54 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carthage walkable?
Carthage is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carthage without a car?
<1% 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 Carthage, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carthage
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.