De Pue has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
2% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Illinois. There are 97 jobs in De Pue, and 527 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income De Pue is better than 21% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in De Pue
Fewer jobs are based in De Pue than ten years ago
Jobs counted in De Pue fell from 1,276 in 2013 to 97 in 2023, −92%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
De Pue is a place people come home to
There are 97 jobs based in De Pue, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday De Pue has about 1,100 people in it, 27% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 527 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How De Pue earns its Jobs & income grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides De Pue’s grade.
Unemployment (7.5%) is left out: De Pue’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, De Pue could be anywhere from D to C+.
The kinds of work in De Pue
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Pue, 2013 → 2023: 1,276 → 97. 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 De Pue’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of De Pue on a workday
On a workday 516 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 86 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in De Pue on a workday afternoon, 27% 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 2023, primary jobs.
De Pue’s commute, mile by mile
About 36% 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.
10% of working residents work in Peru
Where De Pue clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in De Pue
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Pue workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 694 commuters (the 2% 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.
Most trips from De Pue start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, De Pue is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place De Pue near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 705 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). 8.5% of De Pue households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of De Pue’s commuters take a bus or train.
De Pue is 4,003rd of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,001 | Hamilton Township MI | 1,365 | $65K | 14.4% | 3.6% | 2% | C− |
| 4,002 | Hopkins SC | 1,985 | $50K | 25.7% | 31.1% | <1% | C− |
| 4,003 | De Pue IL | 1,571 | $58K | 14.6% | 7.5% | 2% | C− |
| 4,004 | Converse IN | 1,128 | $66K | 18.9% | 4.6% | 5% | C− |
| 4,005 | Blossom TX | 1,493 | $55K | 9.4% | 1.2% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 De Pue, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work in the towns next to De Pue
The biggest share goes to Selby Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | De Pue workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Pue | – | C− | D− | 28 min | $58,417 |
| Selby Township | 3% | C | D | 25 min | $66,774 |
| Leepertown Township | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Leepertown Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of De Pue’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 De Pue: questions
What is the median household income in De Pue?
$58,417 (±$11,226) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Pue?
14.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Pue?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Pue work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peru (10%, 9 mi), Spring Valley (6%, 6 mi), Princeton (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is De Pue walkable?
De Pue is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around De Pue without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from De Pue, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Pue
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.