Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0Work means Springfield for more than half of Chatham Township’s working residents
Only 3% stay in Chatham Township for work; outside it, Springfield is the main destination (61%, 11 miles). Jobs and income earn Chatham Township A−; getting around on foot earns it B+. The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average; Illinois averages 28, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Chatham Township
Commutes from Chatham 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Chatham Township
66% of Chatham Township residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Chatham Township pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Most Chatham Township residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Chatham Township is a place people come home to
There are 1,151 jobs based in Chatham Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Chatham Township has about 5,700 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 Chatham Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chatham Township is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #280 of 768 in Illinois. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chatham Township could be anywhere from B− to A.
Commuting from Chatham Township: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chatham Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,838 commuters (the 15% 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 kinds of work in Chatham Township
1,151 jobs are based in Chatham Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chatham Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,128 → 1,151. 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 Chatham Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Chatham Township’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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 daily commute in and out of Chatham Township
On a workday 3,847 residents head out to work, 136 work right here, and 1,015 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Chatham Township on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.29 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Chatham Township: the destinations
Where Chatham Township clocks in
61% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
Most of Chatham Township commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chatham Township is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #409 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 4,517 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.4% of Chatham Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Chatham Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
950th of 3,015: where Chatham Township ranks among U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Itasca IL | 9,488 | $114K | 2.0% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 948 | Cold Springs NV | 11,321 | $94K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| 949 | Winters CA | 8,214 | $123K | 8.8% | 3.1% | 17% | A− |
| 950 | Chatham Township IL | 8,487 | $89K | 4.6% | 3.6% | 3% | A− |
| 951 | Allen Township IN | 7,175 | $78K | 5.8% | 2.2% | 9% | A− |
| 952 | New Boston NH | 6,276 | $154K | 6.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Chatham Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
65% of Chatham Township works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chatham Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham Township | – | A− | B+ | 19 min | $88,959 |
| Curran Township | under 1% | A | D | 17 min | $102,857 |
| Ball Township | under 1% | A | B | 27 min | $140,753 |
| Auburn Township | under 1% | B− | B− | 26 min | $81,179 |
| Chatham | 4% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $106,773 |
| Springfield | 61% | C | A | 17 min | $66,064 |
| Capital Township | under 1% | C | A | 17 min | $65,902 |
| Loami Township | under 1% | C+ | D | 31 min | $73,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Springfield. Darker towns draw more of Chatham 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 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 Chatham Township: questions
What is the median household income in Chatham Township?
$88,959 (±$6,773) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chatham Township?
4.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chatham Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chatham Township work?
3% work in town.
Is Chatham Township walkable?
Chatham Township is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chatham Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chatham Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chatham Township
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.