Photo: Nils Huenerfuerst · CC BY 4.0Households in Hillsboro have lower incomes than those in 88% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Hillsboro C; getting around on foot earns it B+. 11.6% of residents are in poverty (Illinois 11.8%). Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Hillsboro, in brief
Commutes from Hillsboro are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 61 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
32% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Hillsboro earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hillsboro is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #625 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Hillsboro’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($50,158, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hillsboro could be anywhere from D to B.
About 20 minutes to work from Hillsboro
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hillsboro workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,483 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.
Where in the region Hillsboro works
About 32% 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.
How a workday changes Hillsboro
On a workday 1,439 residents head out to work, 538 work right here, and 2,129 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Hillsboro on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
Commuting out of Hillsboro: the destinations
Where Hillsboro clocks in
5% 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.
Inside Hillsboro’s 2,667 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hillsboro, 2014 → 2024: 2,456 → 2,667. 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 Hillsboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Hillsboro, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hillsboro is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #331 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,604 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). 6.7% of Hillsboro households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hillsboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Hillsboro is 2,491st among 3,370 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,489 | Thomson GA | 6,763 | $42K | 28.8% | 0.8% | 14% | C |
| 2,490 | Calumet Park IL | 6,772 | $54K | 14.1% | 15.4% | 2% | C |
| 2,491 | Hillsboro IL | 6,184 | $50K | 11.6% | 2.9% | 27% | C |
| 2,492 | Seat Pleasant MD | 4,524 | $57K | 15.1% | 20.8% | <1% | C |
| 2,493 | Harrietstown NY | 5,167 | $66K | 16.8% | 2.5% | 33% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Hillsboro, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Hillsboro
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hillsboro workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro | – | C | B+ | 20 min | $50,158 |
| Taylor Springs | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Irving Township | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Hillsboro Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Butler Grove Township | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| East Fork Township | under 2% | C− | D | 27 min | $68,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Taylor Springs, Irving Township and Butler Grove Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Hillsboro Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hillsboro’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 Hillsboro: questions
What is the median household income in Hillsboro?
$50,158 (±$3,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hillsboro?
11.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hillsboro?
20 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hillsboro work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Litchfield (8%, 10 mi), Springfield (5%, 44 mi), Greenville (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hillsboro walkable?
Hillsboro is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hillsboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hillsboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hillsboro
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.