Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMcLeansboro’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income McLeansboro is better than 26% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−). The poverty rate is 22.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois. Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets McLeansboro apart on work
McLeansboro trades workers with the towns around it
McLeansboro has about as many jobs (1,012) as working residents (1,060), but they are mostly different people: 799 residents leave for work each day while 751 people come in. Only 26% of the jobs in McLeansboro are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few McLeansboro workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
McLeansboro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside McLeansboro is Mount Vernon, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (153) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Jobs & income in McLeansboro: the grade in detail
Unemployment holds McLeansboro’s grade up (1.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($45,422, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McLeansboro could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Who commutes out of McLeansboro, and who commutes in
On a workday 799 residents head out to work, 261 work right here, and 751 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 (0.95 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.
About 26 minutes to work from McLeansboro
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McLeansboro workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,192 commuters (the 1% 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.
Half of McLeansboro commutes less than 25 miles
About 24% 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.
14% of working residents work in Mount Vernon
Where McLeansboro clocks in
14% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in McLeansboro
1,012 jobs are based in McLeansboro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McLeansboro, 2013 → 2023: 1,306 → 1,012. 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 McLeansboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: McLeansboro
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,201 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). 8.6% of McLeansboro households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of McLeansboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
McLeansboro next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500: 3,590th of 5,083 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,588 | West Township OH | 3,100 | $75K | 13.4% | 10.6% | 2% | C |
| 3,589 | Mount Carmel Township PA | 2,469 | $71K | 12.3% | 7.1% | 14% | C |
| 3,590 | McLeansboro IL | 2,585 | $45K | 22.3% | 1.2% | 25% | C |
| 3,591 | Carterville MO | 1,869 | $59K | 18.3% | 4.0% | <1% | C |
| 3,592 | Dixfield ME | 2,396 | $71K | 14.0% | 4.0% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 McLeansboro, 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 McLeansboro: questions
What is the median household income in McLeansboro?
$45,422 (±$7,114) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McLeansboro?
22.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McLeansboro?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McLeansboro work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Vernon (14%, 26 mi), Eldorado (3%, 20 mi), Carmi (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McLeansboro walkable?
McLeansboro is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McLeansboro without a car?
1% 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 McLeansboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of McLeansboro
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.