Hartford has lower household incomes than 95% of U.S. towns
20.7% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 11.8% for Illinois as a whole. The two grades for Hartford are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hartford and work: the main findings
The jobs in Hartford pay better than its residents’ jobs
78% of the jobs based in Hartford pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 52% of the jobs Hartford residents hold. 100% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Hartford. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Hartford than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hartford fell from 778 in 2014 to 547 in 2024, −30%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Hartford makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Hartford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Hartford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 14%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 500 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Hartford’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Hartford is better than 28% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Hartford’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,092, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.8%) is left out: Hartford’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, Hartford could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Goods, not services: 35% of the jobs in Hartford
547 jobs are based in Hartford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hartford, 2014 → 2024: 778 → 547. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hartford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Hartford, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 498 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 545 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 (1.09 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in St. Louis
Where Hartford clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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 Hartford spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hartford workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 435 commuters (the 6% 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 it is to work from Hartford
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Hartford, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hartford is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 461 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.1% of Hartford households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hartford’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hartford ranks: 2,491st of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,489 | Wheatland Township MI | 1,342 | $75K | 12.1% | 2.6% | 2% | C |
| 2,490 | Gorman NC | 1,591 | $47K | 18.8% | 5.6% | 0% | C |
| 2,491 | Hartford IL | 1,153 | $41K | 20.7% | 6.8% | <1% | C |
| 2,492 | Kimmel Township PA | 1,513 | $62K | 10.7% | 1.4% | 2% | C |
| 2,493 | Springfield Township PA | 1,128 | $66K | 8.0% | 3.3% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Hartford, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 18% of Hartford
The biggest share goes to Granite City (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hartford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford | – | C | C+ | 24 min | $41,092 |
| Roxana | 4% | B− | C | 19 min | $64,516 |
| Granite City | 9% | C+ | B− | 22 min | $59,205 |
| Wood River | 5% | B | B | 24 min | $62,703 |
| South Roxana | under 3% | C | C− | 26 min | $60,214 |
| Madison | under 3% | C− | C | 18 min | $49,326 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hartford’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 2024, 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 Hartford: questions
What is the median household income in Hartford?
$41,092 (±$3,830) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hartford?
20.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hartford?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hartford work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (10%, 15 mi), Granite City (9%, 6 mi), Edwardsville (8%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hartford walkable?
Hartford is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hartford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hartford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hartford
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.