Photo: Nyttend · Public domainElsah Township has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Home is the office for 8% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. There are 394 jobs in Elsah Township, against 963 working residents. Elsah Township grades B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Elsah Township’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elsah Township is better than 51% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Elsah Township’s grade up (5.9%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elsah Township could be anywhere from C− to A.
How many people are in Elsah Township by day
On a workday 911 residents head out to work, 52 work right here, and 342 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Elsah Township on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer 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.
11% of working residents work in Alton
Where Elsah Township clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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 Elsah Township’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elsah Township, 2013 → 2023: 404 → 394. 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 Elsah Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Elsah Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elsah Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,269 commuters (the 8% 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.
How many miles Elsah Township commutes
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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Elsah Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elsah Township is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 17.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,375 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). 3.6% of Elsah Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elsah Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Elsah Township places 2,066th of 5,148 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Port Barrington IL | 1,584 | $150K | 2.7% | 2.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,064 | Roaring Spring PA | 2,280 | $63K | 13.4% | 1.7% | 9% | B− |
| 2,065 | New Fairview TX | 1,666 | $92K | 28.9% | 1.1% | 2% | B− |
| 2,066 | Elsah Township IL | 2,093 | $74K | 5.9% | 6.8% | 5% | B− |
| 2,067 | Seward Township IN | 2,305 | $77K | 6.9% | 3.9% | 1% | B− |
| 2,068 | Virgil NY | 2,375 | $91K | 7.1% | 4.9% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Elsah Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns around Elsah Township
The biggest share goes to Godfrey (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elsah Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elsah Township | – | B− | B− | 25 min | $74,375 |
| Godfrey | 4% | B+ | C | 26 min | $94,543 |
| Mississippi Township | under 2% | A− | D− | 24 min | $84,618 |
| Quarry Township | under 2% | B | B− | 31 min | $73,684 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elsah 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 Elsah Township: questions
What is the median household income in Elsah Township?
$74,375 (±$40,120) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elsah Township?
5.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elsah Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elsah Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alton (11%, 11 mi), Jerseyville (9%, 9 mi), St. Louis (5%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elsah Township walkable?
Elsah Township is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elsah Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elsah Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elsah 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.