Photo: Mrostrichman · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.1 jobs in Nashville for every working resident, and 2,701 people commute in
3,261 jobs are based in Nashville for 1,564 working residents. For jobs and income Nashville is better than 45% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C). 8% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Nashville stands out on work
Nashville makes and builds things
54% of the jobs based in Nashville are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Nashville residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Nashville is where the jobs are
Nashville has 3,261 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,700 people are in town, 56% more than the 3,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
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 Nashville: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Nashville’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($63,170, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Nashville could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Factories, building and farms: 54% of the jobs in Nashville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nashville, 2013 → 2023: 2,687 → 3,261. 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 Nashville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Nashville
On a workday 1,004 residents head out to work and 560 work right here.
About 4,700 people are in Nashville on a workday afternoon, 56% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where the people who work in Nashville live
Where Nashville clocks in
5% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
About 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nashville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,361 commuters (the 8% 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.
How far Nashville goes to work
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.
Few in Nashville walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 1,477 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). 2.1% of Nashville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Nashville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Nashville is 2,520th of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,518 | Beulah ND | 3,077 | $77K | 11.2% | 2.0% | 39% | B− |
| 2,519 | Burrell Township PA | 3,434 | $51K | 6.6% | 3.6% | 13% | B− |
| 2,520 | Nashville IL | 3,011 | $63K | 6.8% | 4.4% | 36% | B− |
| 2,521 | Gervais OR | 2,572 | $83K | 11.2% | 7.2% | 3% | B− |
| 2,522 | Mifflinburg PA | 3,436 | $67K | 4.6% | 6.4% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Nashville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Nashville compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Nashville Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nashville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | – | B− | C | 24 min | $63,170 |
| Nashville Township | 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Covington Township | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Nashville Township: not graded. Covington Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Nashville’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 Nashville: questions
What is the median household income in Nashville?
$63,170 (±$5,540) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nashville?
6.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nashville?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nashville work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Vernon (5%, 26 mi), Centralia (3%, 19 mi), Belleville (2%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nashville walkable?
Nashville is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nashville 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 Nashville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nashville
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.