Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Herrin are lower than in 74% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Herrin C; getting around on foot earns it C. 14.5% of residents are in poverty, where Illinois as a whole has 11.8%. About one in seven stay in Herrin for work; outside it, Marion is the main destination (23%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Herrin: the figures worth knowing
The figures behind Herrin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Herrin is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #656 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Herrin’s grade up (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($59,975, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Herrin could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Commuting from Herrin: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Herrin workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,216 commuters (the 11% 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 many people are in Herrin by day
On a workday 4,040 residents head out to work, 802 work right here, and 3,150 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 (0.82 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.
Out of Herrin to work: where people go
Where Herrin clocks in
23% of workers
11% of workers
4% 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.
What Herrin’s employers do
3,952 jobs are based in Herrin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Herrin, 2013 → 2023: 4,651 → 3,952. 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 Herrin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Herrin
About 18% 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.
Herrin is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Herrin is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #636 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% 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 5,854 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). 5.2% of Herrin households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Herrin’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Herrin is 1,930th of 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Riverside Township IL | 16,083 | $122K | 4.5% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,928 | Hanover PA | 16,684 | $61K | 14.5% | 8.9% | 19% | C |
| 1,929 | Delhi CA | 11,009 | $68K | 15.5% | 11.5% | 7% | C |
| 1,930 | Herrin IL | 12,268 | $60K | 14.5% | 5.9% | 17% | C |
| 1,931 | Pendleton OR | 16,989 | $67K | 15.0% | 4.9% | 47% | C |
| 1,932 | Milford DE | 14,723 | $59K | 17.2% | 5.1% | 22% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Herrin, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Herrin compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Carterville (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Herrin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herrin | – | C | C | 22 min | $59,975 |
| Energy | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Crainville | under 2% | C+ | B | 22 min | $65,461 |
| Carterville | 2% | C+ | C+ | 20 min | $62,337 |
Same-state neighbors only. Energy: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Herrin’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 Herrin: questions
What is the median household income in Herrin?
$59,975 (±$5,621) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Herrin?
14.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Herrin?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Herrin work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marion (23%, 7 mi), Carbondale (11%, 12 mi), Mount Vernon (4%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Herrin walkable?
Herrin is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Herrin without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Herrin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Herrin
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.