De Soto Township has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Jobs and income earn De Soto Township C; getting around on foot earns it C+. Employers in De Soto Township report 240 jobs, against 862 working residents. Only 3% work in De Soto Township itself; outside it, Carbondale draws the most (25%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
De Soto Township and work: the main findings
De Soto Township is a place people come home to
There are 240 jobs based in De Soto Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday De Soto Township has about 1,700 people in it, 27% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in De Soto Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in De Soto Township fell from 412 in 2013 to 240 in 2023, −42%. 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 ↓
Commutes from De Soto Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 84 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; with 862 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind De Soto Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, De Soto Township is better than 34% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds De Soto Township’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, De Soto Township could be anywhere from C− to B+.
In and out of De Soto Township on a workday
On a workday 833 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in De Soto Township 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.
Jobs in De Soto Township: what the 240 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Soto Township, 2013 → 2023: 412 → 240. 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 Soto Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 17 minutes in De Soto Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Soto Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,059 commuters (the 10% 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.
Where people from De Soto Township work
Where De Soto Township clocks in
25% of workers
8% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from De Soto Township
About 21% 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.
In De Soto Township, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, De Soto Township is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place De Soto Township 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 1,174 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). 5.7% of De Soto Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of De Soto Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
De Soto Township next to U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100: 3,160th of 5,328 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,158 | Sardis City AL | 1,787 | $68K | 12.1% | 4.1% | 4% | C |
| 3,159 | Gillespie IL | 3,083 | $83K | 17.1% | 4.8% | 9% | C |
| 3,160 | De Soto Township IL | 2,276 | $71K | 12.0% | 5.7% | 3% | C |
| 3,161 | Newburgh ME | 1,735 | $77K | 11.7% | 5.0% | 4% | C |
| 3,162 | Clinton Township MO | 1,609 | $65K | 5.3% | 0.0% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | 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 De Soto Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to De Soto Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | De Soto Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Soto Township | – | C | C+ | 17 min | $70,848 |
| Elk Township | under 2% | D | C+ | 28 min | $46,940 |
| Carbondale Township | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Somerset Township | under 2% | C+ | C− | 29 min | $70,911 |
| Hurst | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Carbondale Township: not graded. Hurst: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of De Soto 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 De Soto Township: questions
What is the median household income in De Soto Township?
$70,848 (±$12,768) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Soto Township?
12.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Soto Township?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Soto Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carbondale (25%, 7 mi), Marion (8%, 15 mi), Murphysboro (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is De Soto Township walkable?
De Soto Township is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around De Soto Township without a car?
0% 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 De Soto Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Soto 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.