Photo: Alan Light · CC BY 2.0East Moline’s household incomes are lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
19.8% of residents are in poverty, next to 11.8% for Illinois as a whole. Jobs and income earn East Moline C+; getting around on foot earns it A−. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in East Moline: the gist
East Moline trades workers with the towns around it
East Moline has about as many jobs (9,233) as working residents (7,816), but they are mostly different people: 6,752 residents leave for work each day while 8,169 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in East Moline are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Many of the people who work in East Moline live in another state
Davenport, IA (11%) and Bettendorf, IA (5%) are among the top places East Moline’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 16% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
A lot of East Moline workers cross into Iowa
20% of East Moline workers work outside Illinois, most of them in Iowa, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Commutes from East Moline are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
East Moline makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in East Moline are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs East Moline residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
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 figures behind East Moline’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, East Moline is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #538 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds East Moline’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, East Moline could be anywhere from C to B.
In and out of East Moline on a workday
On a workday 6,752 residents head out to work, 1,064 work right here, and 8,169 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 (1.18 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.
14% of working residents work in Moline
Where East Moline clocks in
14% of workers
14% of workers
9% 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 daily trip from East Moline: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of East Moline workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,125 commuters (the 5% 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.
In East Moline, 44% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
9,233 jobs are based in East Moline.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in East Moline, 2013 → 2023: 9,660 → 9,233. 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 East Moline’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from East Moline
About 22% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: East Moline
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, East Moline is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #293 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,574 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). 12.6% of East Moline households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of East Moline’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000, East Moline ranks 1,350th of 1,931 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,348 | Mount Dora FL | 18,791 | $75K | 11.8% | 5.9% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,349 | Langley Park MD | 21,508 | $85K | 28.3% | 6.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,350 | East Moline IL | 20,453 | $62K | 19.8% | 3.4% | 14% | C+ |
| 1,351 | Dickson TN | 17,051 | $70K | 12.8% | 4.8% | 26% | C+ |
| 1,352 | Knik-Fairview AK | 19,972 | $96K | 9.2% | 4.3% | — | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 East Moline, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 17% of East Moline’s workers
The biggest share goes to Moline (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | East Moline workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Moline | – | C+ | A− | 19 min | $61,779 |
| Moline | 14% | C+ | A− | 18 min | $67,701 |
| South Moline Township | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 18 min | $67,829 |
| Moline Township | under 2% | C+ | A− | 18 min | $62,396 |
| Campbell's Island | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Silvis | 3% | B− | B | 20 min | $62,375 |
| Barstow | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Hampton | under 2% | A− | A− | 24 min | $90,406 |
| Hampton Township | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 20 min | $63,933 |
Same-state neighbors only. Campbell's Island and Barstow: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of East Moline’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 East Moline: questions
What is the median household income in East Moline?
$61,779 (±$4,698) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in East Moline?
19.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from East Moline?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in East Moline work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Moline (14%, 6 mi), Davenport (14%, 12 mi), Rock Island (9%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is East Moline walkable?
East Moline is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around East Moline without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from East Moline, from the people who make the trip.
More of East Moline
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.