Photo: Illinois2011 (Tyler Warren) · Public domainEdwardsville has 1.9 jobs for every working resident: 18,580 people commute in to work
Jobs & income A: better than 94% of U.S. towns on family income, poverty and job access · #71 of 768 in Illinois.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns · #335 of 768 in Illinois.
Family incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 23 minutes each way (Illinois 28, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Edwardsville; the top destination outside it is St. Louis (10%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Edwardsville
Edwardsville is where the jobs are
Edwardsville has 20,468 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Edwardsville draws workers from far and wide
The 20,468 jobs in Edwardsville are filled from a wide area. Edwardsville’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 27%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Edwardsville has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Edwardsville went from 13,878 in 2013 to 20,468 in 2023, +47%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Edwardsville
64% of Edwardsville residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Edwardsville pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 83% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Edwardsville are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 38 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Edwardsville’s Jobs & income grade
On family income, poverty and job access, Edwardsville is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #71 of 768 in Illinois. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Edwardsville’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
22% of Edwardsville’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (15% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 5.6%, against 11.6% for all residents. Unemployment (4.6%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($136,250), since student households pull the household median down ($86,721).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Edwardsville could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Edwardsville fills up on a workday
On a workday 8,944 residents head out to work, 1,888 work right here, and 18,580 people come in from elsewhere.
About 36,000 people are in Edwardsville on a workday afternoon, 36% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Edwardsville’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Edwardsville clocks in
10% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 20,468 jobs in Edwardsville are
20,468 jobs are based in Edwardsville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Edwardsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Edwardsville, 2013 → 2023: 13,878 → 20,468. 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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Edwardsville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,875 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Edwardsville commutes less than 17 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 17% 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.
Most trips from Edwardsville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Edwardsville is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #335 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Edwardsville 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 12,944 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Edwardsville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Edwardsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Edwardsville is 148th of 1,477 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Edwardsville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Brighton Township MI | 19,489 | $133K | 2.9% | 3.7% | 6% | A |
| 147 | Brushy Creek TX | 19,576 | $139K | 5.5% | 3.2% | 2% | A |
| 148 | Edwardsville IL | 26,463 | $87K | 11.6% | 4.6% | 17% | A |
| 149 | Murrysville PA | 20,636 | $122K | 2.5% | 3.1% | 11% | A |
| 150 | Moraine Township IL | 34,725 | $154K | 6.0% | 3.5% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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.
Edwardsville and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Glen Carbon (3%). Darker towns draw more of Edwardsville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Edwardsville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edwardsville | – | A | B+ | 23 min | $86,721 |
| Glen Carbon | 3% | A− | C+ | 26 min | $97,168 |
| Pontoon Beach | under 3% | C | B− | 23 min | $62,861 |
| South Roxana | under 3% | C | C− | 26 min | $60,214 |
| Edwardsville Township | 3% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $92,712 |
| Pin Oak Township | under 3% | A− | B− | 28 min | $168,822 |
| Mitchell | under 3% | A− | D− | 27 min | $60,450 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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.
- Students. 22% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Edwardsville: questions
What is the median household income in Edwardsville?
$86,721 (±$11,520) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Edwardsville?
11.6% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 5.6%. Illinois: 11.8%.
How long is the commute from Edwardsville?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Edwardsville work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (10%, 18 mi), Edwardsville Township (3%, 0 mi), Glen Carbon (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Edwardsville walkable?
Edwardsville is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Edwardsville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Edwardsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Edwardsville
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.