About half of Mount Zion’s working residents commute to Decatur
Jobs & income A−: better than 80% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #245 of 768 in Illinois.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns · #697 of 768 in Illinois.
Household incomes here are higher than in 79% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Illinois 28, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Mount Zion; the top destination outside it is Decatur (48%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Mount Zion
Nearly half of Mount Zion works in Decatur
1,228 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Decatur, 5.6 miles away across the town line. That’s 5 times as many as work in Mount Zion itself. The commute map ↓
Most Mount Zion residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Mount Zion 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.
What’s behind Mount Zion’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mount Zion is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #245 of 768 in Illinois. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Zion could be anywhere from B− to A.
48% of working residents work in Decatur
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Mount Zion clocks in
4% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Mount Zion commutes less than 7 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 21% 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.
About 22 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Zion workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,385 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Mount Zion quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,303 residents head out to work, 229 work right here, and 1,015 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Mount Zion on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.49 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 1,244 jobs in Mount Zion are
1,244 jobs are based in Mount Zion. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mount Zion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Zion, 2013 → 2023: 1,261 → 1,244. 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.
Most trips from Mount Zion start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mount Zion is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #697 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% 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 2,534 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). 5.8% of Mount Zion households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mount Zion’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mount Zion is 792nd of 3,432 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Mount Zion, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 790 | Mayflower Village CA | 4,950 | $105K | 8.4% | 4.6% | 2% | A− |
| 791 | Apple Valley OH | 5,548 | $101K | 3.9% | 1.0% | 3% | A− |
| 792 | Mount Zion IL | 5,880 | $103K | 4.0% | 3.4% | 9% | A− |
| 793 | Bartonville IL | 5,804 | $73K | 7.1% | 1.1% | 9% | A− |
| 794 | Thornbury Township PA | 6,965 | $192K | 5.3% | 7.0% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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.
48% of Mount Zion works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Decatur (48%). Darker towns draw more of Mount Zion’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Zion workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Zion | – | A− | C− | 22 min | $103,365 |
| Decatur | 48% | C− | B+ | 18 min | $51,592 |
| Long Creek Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 20 min | $85,279 |
| South Wheatland Township | under 2% | A− | D | 21 min | $94,427 |
| Long Creek | under 2% | B | B | 19 min | $78,519 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Mount Zion: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Zion?
$103,365 (±$8,407) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Zion?
4.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Zion?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Zion work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Decatur (48%, 6 mi), Springfield (4%, 40 mi), Chicago (2%, 155 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Zion walkable?
Mount Zion is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Zion without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mount Zion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Zion
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.