Ed. M. Stotlar House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainA job hub: Marion has 2.5 jobs per working resident, and 13,880 people come in to work
Household incomes here are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns. 16,510 jobs are based in Marion, and 6,628 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Marion is better than 40% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Marion in brief
Marion is where the jobs are
Marion has 16,510 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 27,000 people are in town, 58% more than the 17,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Marion draws workers from far and wide
The 16,510 jobs in Marion are filled from a wide area. Marion’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 23%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Marion are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Marion’s grade explained
Unemployment holds Marion’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($56,912, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Marion could be anywhere from C to B.
Who works in Marion, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,998 residents head out to work and 2,630 work right here.
About 27,000 people are in Marion on a workday afternoon, 58% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Marion’s workforce comes from
Where Marion clocks in
8% of workers
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.
Getting to work from Marion takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marion workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,651 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.
What Marion’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marion, 2013 → 2023: 15,259 → 16,510. 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 Marion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Marion commutes less than 7 miles
About 19% 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.
Most of Marion commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 7,496 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). 9.9% of Marion households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Marion’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Marion is 1,440th among 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,438 | Ypsilanti MI | 19,766 | $47K | 24.8% | 8.5% | 7% | C+ |
| 1,439 | Kingsbury NY | 12,829 | $72K | 11.4% | 5.1% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,440 | Marion IL | 17,148 | $57K | 13.3% | 3.5% | 40% | C+ |
| 1,441 | New Philadelphia OH | 17,424 | $59K | 15.9% | 3.7% | 20% | C+ |
| 1,442 | La Porte IN | 22,600 | $59K | 16.4% | 3.5% | 31% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Marion, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
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 Marion: questions
What is the median household income in Marion?
$56,912 (±$6,517) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marion?
13.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marion?
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 Marion work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carbondale (8%, 16 mi), Herrin (5%, 7 mi), Mount Vernon (3%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Marion walkable?
Marion is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marion without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marion
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.