Pembroke Township ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
For jobs and income Pembroke Township is better than 5% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (D). Measured by household income, Pembroke Township is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 18.0% of residents live below the poverty line; Illinois has 11.8%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Pembroke Township at work: what stands out
Pembroke Township is a place people come home to
There are 75 jobs based in Pembroke Township, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Pembroke Township has about 1,300 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Pembroke Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 609 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Pembroke Township earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Pembroke Township’s grade up (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($32,153, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (10.8%) is left out: Pembroke 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, Pembroke Township could be anywhere from D− to D.
The workday shuffle in and out of Pembroke Township
On a workday 574 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Pembroke Township on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.12 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The commute from Pembroke Township, by distance
About 36% 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 36 minutes each way for Pembroke Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pembroke Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 489 commuters (the 17% 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.
13% of working residents work in Kankakee
Where Pembroke Township clocks in
13% 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 Pembroke Township
75 jobs are based in Pembroke Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pembroke Township, 2013 → 2023: 83 → 75. 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 Pembroke Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Pembroke Township, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 2.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 589 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). 9.2% of Pembroke Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Pembroke Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Pembroke Township compares with U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,168 | Wagner SD | 1,422 | $47K | 15.7% | 8.0% | 43% | D |
| 5,169 | Emory TX | 1,413 | $37K | 29.1% | 3.1% | 6% | D |
| 5,170 | Pembroke Township IL | 1,856 | $32K | 18.0% | 10.8% | 6% | D |
| 5,171 | Fowler NY | 2,147 | $50K | 16.2% | 4.7% | 9% | D |
| 5,172 | Washington Township OH | 2,283 | $57K | 23.2% | 10.4% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Pembroke Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Pembroke Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pembroke Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pembroke Township | – | D | D | 36 min | $32,153 |
| St. Anne Township | under 3% | B− | B+ | 27 min | $90,000 |
| Beaverville Township | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Ganeer Township | under 3% | C− | B− | 25 min | $65,208 |
Same-state neighbors only. Beaverville Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pembroke 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 Pembroke Township: questions
What is the median household income in Pembroke Township?
$32,153 (±$14,818) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pembroke Township?
18.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pembroke Township?
36 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pembroke Township work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kankakee (13%, 14 mi), Chicago (9%, 54 mi), Momence (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pembroke Township walkable?
Pembroke Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 2.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pembroke Township without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pembroke Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pembroke 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.