Otego Township has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Measured by household income, Otego Township is behind 82% of U.S. towns. Otego Township has 264 jobs, against 637 working residents. The two grades for Otego Township are D for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Otego Township and work: the main findings
Jobs & income in Otego Township: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Otego Township is better than 8% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Otego Township’s grade.
Unemployment (3.0%) is left out: Otego Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Otego Township could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How far Otego Township goes to work
About 30% 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.
In and out of Otego Township on a workday
On a workday 601 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 228 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Otego Township on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
11% of working residents work in Vandalia
Where Otego Township clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Otego Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Otego Township, 2013 → 2023: 189 → 264. 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 Otego Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Otego Township: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Otego Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 517 commuters (the 5% 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.
Otego Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Otego Township is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Otego Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 546 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). 9.6% of Otego Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Otego Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Otego Township is 5,040th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,038 | Bolivar NY | 1,005 | $56K | 18.7% | 9.0% | 5% | D |
| 5,039 | Pleasant Hill Township IL | 1,178 | $57K | 14.9% | 2.3% | 6% | D |
| 5,040 | Otego Township IL | 1,382 | $54K | 18.2% | 3.0% | 6% | D |
| 5,041 | Bethel Township MI | 1,466 | $63K | 28.7% | 2.2% | 1% | D |
| 5,042 | Sheffield Township PA | 1,755 | $58K | 15.8% | 0.0% | 14% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Otego Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Otego Township compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Otego Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otego Township | – | D | D | 24 min | $54,286 |
| Wilberton Township | under 2% | — | — | 48 min | — |
| Vandalia Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Sefton Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Wheatland Township | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wilberton Township, Sefton Township and Wheatland Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Vandalia Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Otego Township’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 Otego Township: questions
What is the median household income in Otego Township?
$54,286 (±$11,718) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Otego Township?
18.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Otego Township?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Otego Township work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Vandalia (11%, 8 mi), Effingham (9%, 26 mi), St. Elmo (8%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Otego Township walkable?
Otego Township is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Otego Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Otego Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Otego Township
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.