Photo: Arthur Rothstein · Public domainHouseholds in Eldorado earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
22.4% of residents are in poverty; Illinois has 11.8%. Jobs and income earn Eldorado C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. For 5% of workers, the job is at home, 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
Work in Eldorado: the figures worth knowing
Eldorado trades workers with the towns around it
Eldorado has about as many jobs (1,544) as working residents (1,452), but they are mostly different people: 1,150 residents leave for work each day while 1,242 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Eldorado are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Eldorado are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Eldorado workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Eldorado’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Eldorado’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Eldorado is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #672 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Eldorado’s grade up (1.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($37,154, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eldorado could be anywhere from C− to C.
The daily commute in and out of Eldorado
On a workday 1,150 residents head out to work, 302 work right here, and 1,242 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 (1.06 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 22 minutes each way for Eldorado’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eldorado workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,395 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.
Services make up most of the work in Eldorado
1,544 jobs are based in Eldorado.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eldorado, 2013 → 2023: 1,270 → 1,544. 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 Eldorado’s own residents hold wherever they work.
13% of working residents work in Harrisburg
Where Eldorado clocks in
13% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Eldorado’s commute, mile by mile
About 27% 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 Eldorado, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eldorado is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #351 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% 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 1,471 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). 9.1% of Eldorado households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Eldorado’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,355 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800, Eldorado comes 3,358th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Lakewood IL | 4,293 | $174K | 3.5% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,356 | Ford City PA | 2,750 | $58K | 17.4% | 5.1% | 8% | C− |
| 3,357 | Thruston KY | 2,581 | $70K | 21.6% | 6.5% | 1% | C− |
| 3,358 | Eldorado IL | 3,579 | $37K | 22.4% | 1.7% | 21% | C− |
| 3,359 | Clifton Forge VA | 3,372 | $40K | 15.1% | 2.0% | 9% | C− |
| 3,360 | Blackstone VA | 3,389 | $55K | 26.6% | 2.4% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Eldorado, 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 Eldorado: questions
What is the median household income in Eldorado?
$37,154 (±$4,598) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eldorado?
22.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eldorado?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eldorado work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisburg (13%, 8 mi), Marion (6%, 28 mi), Mount Vernon (4%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eldorado walkable?
Eldorado is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eldorado 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 Eldorado, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eldorado
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.