Photo: Gerald Roll · Public domainEffingham draws 13,111 commuters a day, with 3.0 jobs for every working resident
For jobs and income Effingham is better than 50% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (B+). There are 15,619 jobs in Effingham, against 5,192 working residents. About half work in Effingham; the top destination outside it is Teutopolis (5%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Effingham, in a few figures
Commutes from Effingham are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Effingham has far more jobs than workers
Effingham has 15,619 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 23,000 people are in town, 84% more than the 12,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Effingham draws workers from far and wide
The 15,619 jobs in Effingham are filled from a wide area. Effingham’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Effingham: the grade in detail
Unemployment holds Effingham’s grade up (2.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Effingham could be anywhere from C to B+.
About 13 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Effingham workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,459 commuters (the 12% 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.
Effingham on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,684 residents head out to work and 2,508 work right here.
About 23,000 people are in Effingham on a workday afternoon, 84% more 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 daily trip into Effingham
Where Effingham clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
What Effingham’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Effingham, 2013 → 2023: 13,987 → 15,619. 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 Effingham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Effingham
About 30% 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 Effingham, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,236 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). 8.8% of Effingham households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Effingham’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Effingham is 1,439th of 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Riverside Township IL | 16,083 | $122K | 4.5% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,437 | Greenwood AR | 9,793 | $67K | 10.0% | 2.5% | 13% | B− |
| 1,438 | St. Augustine FL | 16,141 | $78K | 14.1% | 3.8% | 27% | B− |
| 1,439 | Effingham IL | 12,406 | $72K | 14.6% | 2.6% | 48% | B− |
| 1,440 | Harrison Township IN | 13,718 | $67K | 9.0% | 4.4% | 26% | B− |
| 1,441 | Sumpter Township MI | 11,384 | $76K | 12.7% | 5.4% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Effingham, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work in the towns next to Effingham
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Effingham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effingham | – | B− | B+ | 13 min | $72,377 |
| Douglas Township | under 1% | B | B+ | 14 min | $74,666 |
| Summit Township | under 1% | A | C | 22 min | $111,488 |
| Teutopolis Township | under 1% | A− | B | 16 min | $106,786 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Effingham’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 Effingham: questions
What is the median household income in Effingham?
$72,377 (±$12,166) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Effingham?
14.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Effingham?
13 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Effingham work?
48% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Teutopolis (5%, 4 mi), Springfield (4%, 74 mi), Mattoon (2%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Effingham walkable?
Effingham is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Effingham without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Effingham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Effingham
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.