Mercer County Fairgrounds · Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Mercer Township (3.5%) is lower than in 61% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Mercer Township for work; outside it, Aledo is the main destination (38%, 1 miles). For jobs and income Mercer Township is better than 43% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (B). 9% of workers work from home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Mercer Township stands out on work
Mercer Township and Aledo trade workers both ways
Aledo is the top workplace for Mercer Township residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Mercer Township come from (34% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Mercer Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker, and quicker than any town next door (28 to 34 minutes). 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.
The four measures behind Mercer Township’s grade
Unemployment holds Mercer Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mercer Township could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The towns that employ Mercer Township’s residents
Where Mercer Township clocks in
38% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Time on the road from Mercer Township: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mercer Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,767 commuters (the 9% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,070 residents head out to work, 683 work right here, and 1,249 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 (1.10 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.
What the 1,932 jobs in Mercer Township are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mercer Township, 2013 → 2023: 2,023 → 1,932. 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 Mercer Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Mercer Township
About 22% 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.
In Mercer Township, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,950 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). 2.5% of Mercer Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mercer Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Mercer Township is 2,516th among 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,514 | Princess Anne MD | 3,642 | $69K | 22.7% | 5.9% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,515 | Chittenango NY | 4,753 | $71K | 14.6% | 4.2% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,516 | Mercer Township IL | 3,841 | $71K | 12.3% | 3.5% | 39% | C+ |
| 2,517 | Jenkins Township PA | 4,552 | $55K | 8.5% | 5.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,518 | Cresson Township PA | 2,809 | $62K | 14.9% | 2.8% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Mercer Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Mercer Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mercer Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Township | – | C+ | B | 19 min | $71,042 |
| Greene Township | under 2% | B | B | 28 min | $78,056 |
| Ohio Grove Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Millersburg Township | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Perryton Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Abington Township | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ohio Grove Township, Millersburg Township, Perryton Township and Abington Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mercer 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 Mercer Township: questions
What is the median household income in Mercer Township?
$71,042 (±$14,483) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mercer Township?
12.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mercer Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mercer Township work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aledo (38%, 1 mi), Rock Island (7%, 20 mi), Davenport (6%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mercer Township walkable?
Mercer Township is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mercer 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 Mercer Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mercer 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.