Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Hamel works elsewhere
A typical one-way commute lasts 24 minutes; Illinois averages 28, the U.S. 26. Employers in Hamel report 218 jobs for 421 working residents. Only 2% stay in Hamel for work; outside it, Edwardsville is the main destination (12%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Hamel for work, and who comes in
On a workday 414 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.
About 730 people are in Hamel on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Commuting out of Hamel: the destinations
Where Hamel clocks in
12% 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.
The kinds of work in Hamel
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamel, 2013 → 2023: 210 → 218. 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 Hamel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Hamel takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamel workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 473 commuters (the 15% 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 Hamel’s workers travel
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 Hamel: questions
What is the median household income in Hamel?
$109,464 (±$24,398) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamel?
2.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamel?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamel work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edwardsville (12%, 11 mi), St. Louis (8%, 28 mi), Granite City (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Hamel 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 Hamel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamel
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.