With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of De Soto works elsewhere
Only 3% stay in De Soto for work; outside it, Carbondale is the main destination (22%, 6 miles). De Soto has 89 jobs for 497 working residents. Jobs and income earn De Soto C; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in De Soto: the figures worth knowing
De Soto is a place people come home to
There are 89 jobs based in De Soto, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday De Soto has about 980 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from De Soto 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 497 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind De Soto’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, De Soto is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds De Soto’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (8.0%) is left out: De Soto’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 Soto could be anywhere from D to C+.
Who works in De Soto, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 481 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 73 people come in from elsewhere.
About 980 people are in De Soto on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
The trip to work from De Soto: about 17 minutes
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 workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 704 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.
Commuting out of De Soto: the destinations
Where De Soto clocks in
22% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in De Soto
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Soto, 2013 → 2023: 150 → 89. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles De Soto commutes
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
De Soto is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, De Soto is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 790 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). 8.3% of De Soto households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of De Soto’s commuters take a bus or train.
De Soto is 3,603rd of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,601 | Bolindale OH | 1,637 | $46K | 18.4% | 0.5% | <1% | C |
| 3,602 | Bon Aqua Junction TN | 1,586 | $44K | 12.7% | 0.0% | 2% | C |
| 3,603 | De Soto IL | 1,388 | $63K | 16.3% | 8.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,604 | Versailles PA | 1,406 | $43K | 20.1% | 8.3% | 2% | C |
| 3,605 | Knox PA | 1,068 | $69K | 12.9% | 7.5% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Soto, 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 De Soto: questions
What is the median household income in De Soto?
$62,813 (±$14,869) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Soto?
16.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Soto?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Soto work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carbondale (22%, 6 mi), Marion (8%, 17 mi), Murphysboro (7%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is De Soto walkable?
De Soto is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around De Soto 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 Soto, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Soto
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.