Owen Township has lower unemployment (1.9%) than 86% of U.S. towns
Only 2% stay in Owen Township for work; outside it, Rockford is the main destination (35%, 9 miles). Jobs and income earn Owen Township A; getting around on foot earns it D−. 3% of workers work from home, 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
The work figures that set Owen Township apart
Owen Township trades workers with the towns around it
Owen Township has about as many jobs (1,567) as working residents (1,735), but they are mostly different people: 1,693 residents leave for work each day while 1,525 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Owen Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Much of Owen Township works one town over
47% of working residents work in a town that borders Owen Township: Rockford (35%), Loves Park (6%) and Machesney Park (4%). Next door ↓
Few Owen Township workers work from home
Only 3% 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.
How Owen Township earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Owen Township is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #132 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Owen Township could be anywhere from B to A+.
A workday in Owen Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,693 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 1,525 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 27 minutes each way for Owen Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Owen Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,390 commuters (the 3% 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.
The towns that employ Owen Township’s residents
Where Owen Township clocks in
35% 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.
A place that makes things: 32% of Owen Township’s jobs are in goods
1,567 jobs are based in Owen Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Owen Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,833 → 1,567. 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 Owen Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Owen Township commutes
About 26% 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.
Most of Owen Township commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,439 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Owen Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Owen Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Owen Township is 458th among 4,474 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Lakewood IL | 4,293 | $174K | 3.5% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 456 | Vamo FL | 2,936 | $88K | 2.0% | 5.0% | 4% | A |
| 457 | Swepsonville NC | 2,632 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 3% | A |
| 458 | Owen Township IL | 3,601 | $95K | 4.3% | 1.9% | 2% | A |
| 459 | Marion Township OH | 3,381 | $102K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 11% | A |
| 460 | Morada CA | 3,383 | $97K | 2.0% | 3.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | 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 Owen Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Owen Township and its neighbors: 47% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Owen Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owen Township | – | A | D− | 27 min | $95,370 |
| Harlem Township | under 3% | B− | C+ | 23 min | $77,883 |
| Machesney Park | 4% | C+ | C+ | 22 min | $75,489 |
| Rockford Township | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Rockford | 35% | C− | B | 22 min | $54,752 |
| Roscoe Township | under 3% | A− | C+ | 27 min | $108,711 |
| Rockton Township | under 3% | B | C+ | 25 min | $77,092 |
| Rockton | 2% | A | C | 25 min | $119,058 |
| Loves Park | 6% | C+ | C+ | 22 min | $61,868 |
Same-state neighbors only. Rockford Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rockford. Darker towns draw more of Owen 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 Owen Township: questions
What is the median household income in Owen Township?
$95,370 (±$19,690) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Owen Township?
4.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Owen Township?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Owen Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockford (35%, 9 mi), Loves Park (6%, 6 mi), Chicago (4%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Owen Township walkable?
Owen Township is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Owen Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Owen Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Owen 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.