Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMost of Oquawka commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Oquawka D; getting around on foot earns it C. There are 253 jobs in Oquawka; 469 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, Oquawka is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
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 Oquawka
A lot of Oquawka workers cross into Iowa
24% of Oquawka workers work outside Illinois, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Burlington (11%) and West Burlington (6%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few Oquawka workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 469 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Oquawka
On income, poverty and job access, Oquawka is better than 11% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Oquawka’s grade.
Unemployment (14.3%) is left out: Oquawka’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Oquawka could be anywhere from D− to B−.
11% of working residents work in Burlington
Where Oquawka clocks in
11% of workers
9% 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.
Where in the region Oquawka works
About 32% 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.
About 29 minutes each way, about the IL average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oquawka workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 351 commuters (the 2% 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 many people are in Oquawka by day
On a workday 417 residents head out to work, 52 work right here, and 201 people come in from elsewhere.
About 850 people are in Oquawka on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
What Oquawka’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oquawka, 2013 → 2023: 211 → 253. 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 Oquawka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Oquawka gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oquawka is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 357 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). 6.8% of Oquawka households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oquawka’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Oquawka is 2,492nd among 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| 20 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,490 | Cherrytree Township PA | 1,276 | $57K | 15.3% | 7.1% | 2% | D |
| 2,491 | Pearlington MS | 1,278 | $45K | 22.6% | 6.5% | 1% | D |
| 2,492 | Oquawka IL | 1,065 | $54K | 15.9% | 14.3% | 11% | D |
| 2,493 | Walton IN | 1,024 | $46K | 20.8% | 4.6% | 1% | D |
| 2,494 | Pleasanton KS | 1,186 | $50K | 11.0% | 6.9% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Oquawka, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Oquawka
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oquawka workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oquawka | – | D | C | 29 min | $53,929 |
| Oquawka Township | under 3% | D | C− | 30 min | $54,682 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oquawka’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 Oquawka: questions
What is the median household income in Oquawka?
$53,929 (±$16,194) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oquawka?
15.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oquawka?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oquawka work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burlington (11%, 13 mi), Monmouth (9%, 16 mi), West Burlington (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oquawka walkable?
Oquawka is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oquawka without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oquawka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oquawka
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.