Photo: Paul Sableman from St. Louis, MO · CC BY 2.0At 11.1%, unemployment in Du Quoin is higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
For 2% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across Illinois. The two grades for Du Quoin are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Du Quoin at work: what stands out
Du Quoin trades workers with the towns around it
Du Quoin has about as many jobs (1,920) as working residents (2,114), but they are mostly different people: 1,669 residents leave for work each day while 1,475 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in Du Quoin are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Du Quoin 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 ↓
Few Du Quoin workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
The four measures behind Du Quoin’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Du Quoin is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #763 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Du Quoin’s grade up (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Du Quoin could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,669 residents head out to work, 445 work right here, and 1,475 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 20 minutes each way for Du Quoin’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Du Quoin workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,774 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.
8% of working residents work in Carbondale
Where Du Quoin clocks in
8% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
The 1,920 jobs based in Du Quoin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Du Quoin, 2013 → 2023: 1,969 → 1,920. 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 Du Quoin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Du Quoin
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.
Du Quoin is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Du Quoin is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #271 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,815 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). 15.0% of Du Quoin households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Du Quoin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Du Quoin sits among U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,359 | Mena AR | 5,607 | $47K | 13.9% | 9.4% | 46% | D |
| 3,360 | Hazlehurst GA | 4,172 | $39K | 28.2% | 6.3% | 21% | D |
| 3,361 | Du Quoin IL | 5,569 | $54K | 29.6% | 11.1% | 21% | D |
| 3,362 | Richlands VA | 5,051 | $37K | 30.2% | 5.5% | 14% | D |
| 3,363 | Calipatria CA | 6,012 | $53K | 25.5% | 7.3% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Du Quoin, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Around Du Quoin: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Du Quoin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Du Quoin | – | D | A− | 20 min | $54,409 |
| St. Johns | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. St. Johns: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Du Quoin’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 Du Quoin: questions
What is the median household income in Du Quoin?
$54,409 (±$7,877) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Du Quoin?
29.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Du Quoin?
20 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Du Quoin work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carbondale (8%, 19 mi), Mount Vernon (6%, 28 mi), Pinckneyville (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Du Quoin walkable?
Du Quoin is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Du Quoin without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Du Quoin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Du Quoin
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.