Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Greenville trail those of 70% of U.S. towns
Greenville grades C for jobs and income and A for walkability. The poverty rate is 11.3%, where Illinois as a whole has 11.8%. Home is the office for 8% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Greenville
Commutes from Greenville are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
The four measures behind Greenville’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Greenville is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #604 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Greenville’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($62,089, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Greenville could be anywhere from D to A−.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Greenville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greenville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,611 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 far Greenville’s workers travel
About 35% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Greenville
On a workday 1,547 residents head out to work, 727 work right here, and 2,658 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,600 people are in Greenville on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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.
Where Greenville goes to work
Where Greenville clocks in
4% of workers
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.
Jobs in Greenville: what the 3,385 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greenville, 2013 → 2023: 3,396 → 3,385. 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 Greenville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Greenville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Greenville is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #165 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,828 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). 9.5% of Greenville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Greenville’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Greenville is 2,266th of 3,125 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,264 | Thatcher AZ | 5,690 | $83K | 12.1% | 4.6% | 14% | C |
| 2,265 | Marathon FL | 10,060 | $89K | 13.4% | 4.3% | 37% | C |
| 2,266 | Greenville IL | 7,469 | $62K | 11.3% | 4.5% | 32% | C |
| 2,267 | Center Line MI | 8,503 | $55K | 16.8% | 6.8% | 4% | C |
| 2,268 | Childress TX | 5,650 | $58K | 14.4% | 0.4% | 46% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,125 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Greenville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Greenville
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Greenville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | – | C | A | 22 min | $62,089 |
| Smithboro | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Smithboro: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Greenville’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 Greenville: questions
What is the median household income in Greenville?
$62,089 (±$9,156) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greenville?
11.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greenville?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greenville work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (4%, 64 mi), Highland (3%, 18 mi), Vandalia (3%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Greenville walkable?
Greenville is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greenville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greenville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greenville
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.