Households in Elk Township have lower incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. 18.8% of residents are in poverty, against 11.8% across Illinois. The two grades for Elk Township are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Elk Township
Inside Elk Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Elk Township is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Elk Township’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,940, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Elk Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Elk Township could be anywhere from D to C−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Elk Township
On a workday 590 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 111 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Elk Township on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.21 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
22% of working residents work in Carbondale
Where Elk Township clocks in
22% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
128 jobs are based in Elk Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elk Township, 2013 → 2023: 134 → 128. 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 Elk Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 28 minutes from Elk Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elk Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 520 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Elk Township
About 19% 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.
Most trips from Elk Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elk Township is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 4.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 550 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). 7.6% of Elk Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elk Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Elk Township is 4,693rd among 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,691 | Elephant Butte NM | 1,456 | $53K | 10.7% | 5.3% | 7% | D |
| 4,692 | Cowpens SC | 2,257 | $39K | 29.1% | 1.9% | 2% | D |
| 4,693 | Elk Township IL | 1,721 | $47K | 18.8% | 6.6% | 3% | D |
| 4,694 | Valley Township OH | 2,030 | $56K | 16.0% | 7.2% | 2% | D |
| 4,695 | Unionville GA | 2,000 | $53K | 31.8% | 10.5% | 0% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Elk Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Elk Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elk Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Township | – | D | C+ | 28 min | $46,940 |
| De Soto Township | under 2% | C | C+ | 17 min | $70,848 |
| Six Mile Township | under 2% | C− | C− | 29 min | $56,437 |
| Vergennes Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Vergennes Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elk Township’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 Elk Township: questions
What is the median household income in Elk Township?
$46,940 (±$7,065) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elk Township?
18.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elk Township?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elk Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carbondale (22%, 13 mi), Murphysboro (9%, 12 mi), Du Quoin (7%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elk Township walkable?
Elk Township is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elk Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elk Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elk Township
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.