Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Coal Valley works elsewhere
There are 466 jobs in Coal Valley, and 1,780 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Coal Valley is better than 89% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D). Measured by household income, Coal Valley is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Coal Valley, in a few figures
A lot of Coal Valley workers cross into Iowa
21% of Coal Valley workers work outside Illinois, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Davenport (16%), Bettendorf (5%) and Riverdale (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Coal Valley are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Coal Valley and Moline trade workers both ways
Moline is the top workplace for Coal Valley residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Coal Valley come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Coal Valley is a place people come home to
There are 466 jobs based in Coal Valley, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Coal Valley has about 2,500 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Coal Valley
63% of Coal Valley residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Coal Valley pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Coal Valley’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.9%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.0%, 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, Coal Valley could be anywhere from B to A+.
18% of working residents work in Moline
Where Coal Valley clocks in
18% of workers
16% of workers
11% 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.
From Coal Valley, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coal Valley workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,762 commuters (the 11% 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.
Coal Valley quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,717 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 403 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Coal Valley on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What Coal Valley’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coal Valley, 2014 → 2024: 375 → 466. 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 Coal Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Coal Valley commutes less than 8 miles
About 20% 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.
Getting around Coal Valley: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,978 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). 1.5% of Coal Valley households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Coal Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Coal Valley next to U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200: 448th of 4,264 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 446 | Boonton Township NJ | 4,432 | $192K | 1.1% | 7.3% | 3% | A |
| 447 | Lancaster Township PA | 3,734 | $99K | 4.1% | 1.9% | 2% | A |
| 448 | Coal Valley IL | 3,859 | $107K | 3.9% | 3.0% | 4% | A |
| 449 | Stacy MN | 4,367 | $98K | 5.2% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| 450 | Richmond UT | 3,130 | $110K | 1.0% | 0.8% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Coal Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 18% of Coal Valley
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Coal Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal Valley | – | A | D | 20 min | $106,850 |
| Moline | 18% | C+ | A− | 18 min | $67,701 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Moline. Darker towns draw more of Coal Valley’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 Coal Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Coal Valley?
$106,850 (±$30,142) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coal Valley?
3.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coal Valley?
20 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coal Valley work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Moline (18%, 4 mi), Davenport (16%, 12 mi), Rock Island (11%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Coal Valley walkable?
Coal Valley is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Coal Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Coal Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coal Valley
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.