Harter Township has lower household incomes than 84% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 16.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois. Harter Township grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Harter Township and work: the main findings
Harter Township and Flora trade workers both ways
Flora is the top workplace for Harter Township residents (36%) and also where the most people who work in Harter Township come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Harter Township workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Where Harter Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harter Township is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #671 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Harter Township’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($53,000, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Harter Township could be anywhere from D to B−.
36% of working residents work in Flora
Where Harter Township clocks in
36% of workers
6% 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.
How long Harter Township spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harter Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,429 commuters (the 2% 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.
A workday in Harter Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,847 residents head out to work, 521 work right here, and 1,128 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Harter Township on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.70 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Harter Township’s employers do
1,649 jobs are based in Harter Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harter Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,817 → 1,649. 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 Harter Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Harter Township commutes less than 22 miles
About 28% 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.
In Harter Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harter Township is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #627 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Harter 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 2,487 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). 4.4% of Harter Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Harter Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Harter Township is 2,782nd of 3,494 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 8,000
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,780 | Sugar Creek Township IN | 7,177 | $56K | 14.5% | 5.5% | 6% | C− |
| 2,781 | Slaton TX | 5,684 | $57K | 15.7% | 6.7% | 13% | C− |
| 2,782 | Harter Township IL | 5,912 | $53K | 16.2% | 3.4% | 22% | C− |
| 2,783 | Oneonta NY | 4,961 | $79K | 14.1% | 7.6% | 13% | C− |
| 2,784 | Scottsburg IN | 7,478 | $39K | 23.4% | 4.2% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,494 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Harter Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns around Harter Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Harter Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harter Township | – | C− | C+ | 24 min | $53,000 |
| Songer Township | under 2% | — | — | 43 min | — |
| Louisville Township | under 2% | D | C− | 21 min | $55,288 |
| Stanford Township | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Keith Township | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Xenia Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Songer Township, Stanford Township, Keith Township and Xenia Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Harter 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 Harter Township: questions
What is the median household income in Harter Township?
$53,000 (±$10,635) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harter Township?
16.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harter Township?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harter Township work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Flora (36%, 3 mi), Salem (6%, 23 mi), Louisville (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harter Township walkable?
Harter Township is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harter Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harter Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harter 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.