Salem Baptist Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFoster Township has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Measured by household income, Foster Township is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns. 428 jobs are based in Foster Township for 1,873 working residents. Foster Township grades B for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Foster Township in brief
The four measures behind Foster Township’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Foster Township is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #400 of 768 in Illinois. Household income holds Foster Township’s grade up ($110,625, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Foster Township could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Who commutes out of Foster Township, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,846 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 401 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Foster Township on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
15% of working residents work in Alton
Where Foster Township clocks in
15% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Goods, not services: 32% of the jobs in Foster Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Foster Township, 2013 → 2023: 286 → 428. 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 Foster Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Foster Township: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Foster Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,577 commuters (the 9% 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 far it is to work from Foster Township
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 Foster Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Foster Township is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns, #762 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Foster Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,737 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). 1.0% of Foster Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Foster Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Foster Township is 1,611th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200 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 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,609 | Robins IA | 3,366 | $122K | 8.9% | 8.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,610 | Peralta NM | 3,499 | $73K | 5.2% | 4.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,611 | Foster Township IL | 3,871 | $111K | 7.4% | 7.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,612 | Liberty Township IN | 3,400 | $76K | 5.1% | 4.3% | 6% | B |
| 1,613 | Berlin Township MI | 3,134 | $94K | 8.1% | 3.4% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Foster Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 24% of Foster Township
The biggest share goes to Alton (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Foster Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foster Township | – | B | D | 27 min | $110,625 |
| Godfrey | 5% | B+ | C | 26 min | $94,543 |
| Alton | 15% | C | A− | 23 min | $54,568 |
| Alton Township | under 3% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Wood River Township | under 3% | B− | B | 23 min | $62,083 |
| Brighton Township | under 3% | B+ | B− | 32 min | $91,667 |
| Bethalto | 4% | B− | B | 23 min | $64,775 |
| Moro Township | under 3% | B+ | C− | 31 min | $100,243 |
Same-state neighbors only. Alton Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Foster 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 Foster Township: questions
What is the median household income in Foster Township?
$110,625 (±$18,628) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Foster Township?
7.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Foster Township?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Foster Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alton (15%, 5 mi), St. Louis (7%, 24 mi), Edwardsville (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Foster Township walkable?
Foster Township is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Foster Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Foster Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Foster 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.