Photo: Wikigaurabia · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Grafton, IL
For 29% of workers, the job is at home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%. About one in ten work in Grafton itself; outside it, Jerseyville draws the most (10%, 11 miles). The trip to work takes 29 minutes on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Grafton in brief
The better-paid jobs are outside Grafton
55% of Grafton residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 32% of the jobs based in Grafton pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A lot of Grafton works from home
29% of Grafton workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Grafton pay little
30% of the jobs based in Grafton pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 40% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 291 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Grafton’s 342 jobs
342 jobs are based in Grafton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grafton, 2013 → 2023: 277 → 342. 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 Grafton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Grafton: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grafton workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 205 commuters (the 29% 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.
Grafton by day and by night
On a workday 261 residents head out to work, 30 work right here, and 312 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.18 per resident).
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 places Grafton commutes to
Where Grafton clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Grafton
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.
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 Grafton: questions
What is the median household income in Grafton?
$105,417 (±$29,189) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grafton?
4.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grafton?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grafton work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jerseyville (10%, 11 mi), Alton (5%, 16 mi), St. Louis (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Grafton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grafton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grafton
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.