Photo: User:Dailynetworks · Public domainHousehold incomes in Jacksonville trail those of 65% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Jacksonville are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Poverty touches 18.5% of residents (Illinois 11.8%). Home is the office for 8% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Jacksonville: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Jacksonville are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Jacksonville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Jacksonville is Springfield, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (1,033) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Jacksonville gains people on a workday
About 21,000 people are in Jacksonville on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 18,000 who live here: 7,900 come in to work and 4,300 head out. Day and night ↓
Jacksonville draws workers from far and wide
The 10,862 jobs in Jacksonville are filled from a wide area. Jacksonville’s own residents hold 27% and the ten next-biggest home towns 17%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Jacksonville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jacksonville is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #647 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Jacksonville’s grade up (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jacksonville could be anywhere from D to B−.
A commute of about 16 minutes in Jacksonville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jacksonville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,126 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.
How many miles Jacksonville commutes
About 29% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Jacksonville
On a workday 4,302 residents head out to work, 2,941 work right here, and 7,921 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Jacksonville on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.50 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.
14% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Jacksonville clocks in
14% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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 work there is in Jacksonville: 10,862 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jacksonville, 2013 → 2023: 10,714 → 10,862. 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 Jacksonville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Jacksonville, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jacksonville is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #361 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Jacksonville 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 7,718 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). 8.7% of Jacksonville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Jacksonville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jacksonville is 1,727th of 2,103 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,725 | Whitehall OH | 19,805 | $52K | 16.4% | 8.8% | 5% | C |
| 1,726 | Rutland VT | 15,363 | $58K | 15.3% | 4.4% | 41% | C |
| 1,727 | Jacksonville IL | 17,752 | $65K | 18.5% | 5.1% | 41% | C |
| 1,728 | Farmington MO | 19,226 | $54K | 15.9% | 4.1% | 35% | C |
| 1,729 | Sulphur Springs TX | 17,054 | $62K | 14.7% | 5.0% | 45% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,103 | 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 Jacksonville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Jacksonville and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to South Jacksonville (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jacksonville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | – | C | B+ | 16 min | $65,432 |
| South Jacksonville | 2% | C− | B− | 14 min | $49,587 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jacksonville’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 Jacksonville: questions
What is the median household income in Jacksonville?
$65,432 (±$8,567) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jacksonville?
18.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jacksonville?
16 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jacksonville work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (14%, 32 mi), Beardstown (3%, 22 mi), Mount Sterling (2%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jacksonville walkable?
Jacksonville is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jacksonville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jacksonville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jacksonville
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.