Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0Elmwood has lower unemployment (1.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 25 minutes each way (Illinois 28, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Elmwood B+; getting around on foot earns it A−. Only 6% work in Elmwood itself; outside it, Peoria draws the most (35%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Elmwood at work: what stands out
One in three of Elmwood works in Peoria
309 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Peoria, 18 miles away. That’s 6 times as many as work in Elmwood itself. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Elmwood
62% of Elmwood residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Elmwood pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Elmwood pay little
27% of the jobs based in Elmwood pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 890 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Elmwood’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elmwood is better than 73% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Elmwood’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (10.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elmwood could be anywhere from B to A.
Commuting out of Elmwood: the destinations
Where Elmwood clocks in
3% 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 kinds of work in Elmwood
326 jobs are based in Elmwood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elmwood, 2014 → 2024: 312 → 326. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Elmwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Elmwood by day and by night
On a workday 837 residents head out to work, 53 work right here, and 273 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Elmwood on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.37 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 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Elmwood: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elmwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 908 commuters (the 14% 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.
The distance from Elmwood to work
About 26% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Elmwood, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elmwood is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,052 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 under 0.1 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). 9.1% of Elmwood households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Elmwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Elmwood is 1,057th of 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Port Barrington IL | 1,584 | $150K | 2.7% | 2.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,055 | Angola NY | 2,029 | $81K | 6.5% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,056 | Lanark WI | 1,546 | $104K | 3.8% | 1.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,057 | Elmwood IL | 2,030 | $90K | 10.1% | 1.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,058 | Spafford NY | 1,596 | $111K | 5.8% | 1.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,059 | Licking Township OH | 2,347 | $124K | 1.3% | 5.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Elmwood, 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 2024, 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 Elmwood: questions
What is the median household income in Elmwood?
$90,285 (±$8,172) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elmwood?
10.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elmwood?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elmwood work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peoria (35%, 18 mi), Farmington (3%, 6 mi), East Peoria (3%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Elmwood walkable?
Elmwood is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elmwood without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elmwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elmwood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.