With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Mason Township works elsewhere
There are 39 jobs in Mason Township; 600 of its residents have a job. Mason Township grades C for jobs and income and D for walkability. Hardly any work in Mason Township; the top destination outside it is Effingham (41%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mason Township at work: what stands out
Mason Township is a place people come home to
There are 39 jobs based in Mason Township, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mason Township has about 680 people in it, 45% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
41% of Mason Township works in Effingham
245 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Effingham, 13 miles away. That’s far more as work in Mason Township itself. 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; with 600 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Mason Township
On income, poverty and job access, Mason Township is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Mason Township’s grade up ($77,639, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.4%) is left out: Mason Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Mason Township could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who leaves Mason Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 598 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 37 people come in from elsewhere.
About 680 people are in Mason Township on a workday afternoon, 45% fewer 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.
The places Mason Township commutes to
Where Mason Township clocks in
41% 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.
Goods jobs make up 33% of work in Mason Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mason Township, 2013 → 2023: 85 → 39. 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 Mason Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Mason Township: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mason Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 652 commuters (the 17% 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.
The distance from Mason Township to work
About 27% 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 trips from Mason Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mason Township is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 3.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 787 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). 1.9% of Mason Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mason Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Mason Township comes 2,977th on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,975 | Greene NY | 1,420 | $57K | 10.3% | 6.1% | 20% | C |
| 2,976 | Lovington Township IL | 1,515 | $60K | 9.9% | 1.6% | 2% | C |
| 2,977 | Mason Township IL | 1,243 | $78K | 15.6% | 3.4% | <1% | C |
| 2,978 | Lyon Township MI | 1,279 | $68K | 8.2% | 3.2% | 7% | C |
| 2,979 | Hermon NY | 1,094 | $70K | 9.2% | 13.7% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Mason Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Mason Township and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mason Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason Township | – | C | D | 25 min | $77,639 |
| West Township | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Larkinsburg Township | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
| Union Township | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | D | D− | 21 min | $72,560 |
Same-state neighbors only. West Township, Larkinsburg Township and Union Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mason Township’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 Mason Township: questions
What is the median household income in Mason Township?
$77,639 (±$24,102) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mason Township?
15.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mason Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mason Township work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Effingham (41%, 13 mi), Teutopolis (6%, 16 mi), Springfield (3%, 79 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mason Township walkable?
Mason Township is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mason Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mason Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mason Township
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.