Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0New Baden has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.6 for each
844 jobs are based in New Baden for 1,483 working residents. The two grades for New Baden are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Only 5% work in New Baden; the top destination outside it is St. Louis (7%, 30 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets New Baden apart on work
The better-paid jobs are outside New Baden
61% of New Baden residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 38% of the jobs based in New Baden pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
New Baden has added jobs fast
Jobs based in New Baden went from 584 in 2013 to 844 in 2023, +45%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from New Baden 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 ↓
Many jobs in New Baden pay little
29% of the jobs based in New Baden pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 36% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind New Baden’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Baden is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #292 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment is its strongest input (2.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($81,393, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Baden could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
What New Baden’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Baden, 2013 → 2023: 584 → 844. 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 New Baden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
New Baden’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Baden workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,428 commuters (the 14% 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.
New Baden on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,407 residents head out to work, 76 work right here, and 768 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in New Baden on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
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 New Baden goes to work
Where New Baden clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from New Baden
About 15% 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.
New Baden is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Baden is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #291 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,663 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). 0.0% of New Baden households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Baden’s commuters take a bus or train.
New Baden is 1,023rd of 4,402 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,021 | Grasonville MD | 3,564 | $121K | 11.5% | 1.6% | 4% | A− |
| 1,022 | Lake Royale NC | 3,168 | $108K | 7.3% | 1.3% | 1% | A− |
| 1,023 | New Baden IL | 3,378 | $81K | 7.4% | 2.6% | 5% | A− |
| 1,024 | Moonachie NJ | 3,153 | $90K | 7.4% | 5.3% | 6% | A− |
| 1,025 | Dunbarton NH | 3,233 | $124K | 3.0% | 4.8% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 New Baden, 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 New Baden: questions
What is the median household income in New Baden?
$81,393 (±$18,344) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Baden?
7.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Baden?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Baden work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (7%, 30 mi), Belleville (6%, 15 mi), O'Fallon (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Baden walkable?
New Baden is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Baden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Baden, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Baden
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.