Most of Germantown commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
There are 300 jobs in Germantown, and 727 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Germantown B+; getting around on foot earns it B. Only 7% stay in Germantown for work; outside it, Breese is the main destination (9%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The four measures behind Germantown’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Germantown is better than 73% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Germantown’s grade up (5.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: Germantown’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, Germantown could be anywhere from B− to A.
How a workday changes Germantown
On a workday 677 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 250 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Germantown on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
The towns that employ Germantown’s residents
Where Germantown clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 31% of the jobs in Germantown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Germantown, 2013 → 2023: 250 → 300. 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 Germantown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 29 minutes in Germantown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Germantown workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 595 commuters (the 13% 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 Germantown commutes
About 16% 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 of Germantown commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Germantown is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Germantown 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 684 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). 2.5% of Germantown households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Germantown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Germantown is 879th among 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 877 | Taylor Township IN | 1,123 | $109K | 1.8% | 2.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 878 | Garrett WA | 1,697 | $119K | 6.4% | 5.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 879 | Germantown IL | 1,379 | $92K | 5.4% | 1.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 880 | Kent City MI | 1,395 | $77K | 6.0% | 2.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 881 | Glen Gardner NJ | 1,690 | $102K | 6.4% | 4.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Germantown, 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 Germantown: questions
What is the median household income in Germantown?
$92,083 (±$19,940) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Germantown?
5.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Germantown?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Germantown work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Breese (9%, 4 mi), St. Louis (8%, 38 mi), Belleville (5%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Germantown walkable?
Germantown is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Germantown without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Germantown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Germantown
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.