Unemployment in Morton (2.8%) is lower than in 73% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Morton itself; outside it, Peoria draws the most (26%, 12 miles). For jobs and income Morton is better than 82% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (B). Household incomes here are higher than in 72% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Morton, in a few figures
Commutes from Morton are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Morton and Peoria trade workers both ways
Peoria is the top workplace for Morton residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Morton come from (12% of its jobs). 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.
The figures behind Morton’s Jobs & income grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Morton’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morton could be anywhere from B to A.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Morton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morton workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,710 commuters (the 12% 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.
Where people from Morton work
Where Morton clocks in
Lines 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.
Morton by day and by night
On a workday 5,965 residents head out to work, 1,654 work right here, and 8,867 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Morton on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.38 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.
Goods jobs make up 31% of work in Morton
10,521 jobs are based in Morton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morton, 2013 → 2023: 12,053 → 10,521. 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 Morton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Morton works
About 20% 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 commute in Morton is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,606 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.0% of Morton households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Morton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,103 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000, Morton comes 632nd 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 630 | Evergreen Park IL | 19,283 | $96K | 4.0% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| 631 | South Hadley MA | 17,768 | $94K | 7.5% | 2.8% | 13% | A− |
| 632 | Morton IL | 17,565 | $94K | 6.5% | 2.8% | 22% | A− |
| 633 | Trenton MI | 17,849 | $82K | 5.5% | 3.3% | 7% | A− |
| 634 | Manvel TX | 20,699 | $119K | 5.7% | 5.8% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Morton, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Morton and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to East Peoria (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morton | – | A− | B | 17 min | $94,402 |
| East Peoria | 5% | B | A− | 21 min | $71,833 |
| Washington Township | under 2% | A− | B | 20 min | $89,618 |
| Fondulac Township | under 2% | B | A | 21 min | $74,478 |
| Groveland Township | under 2% | B | C | 20 min | $65,830 |
| Morton Township | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Morton Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Morton’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 Morton: questions
What is the median household income in Morton?
$94,402 (±$9,255) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morton?
6.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morton?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morton work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peoria (26%, 12 mi), Pekin (5%, 9 mi), East Peoria (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morton walkable?
Morton is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morton
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.