Unemployment in Pontoon Beach (11.0%) is higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
6% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Illinois. For jobs and income Pontoon Beach is better than 26% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 4% work in Pontoon Beach; the top destination outside it is Granite City (12%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Pontoon Beach: the figures worth knowing
Stores, warehouses and trucking
52% of the jobs in Pontoon Beach are in trade, transport and utilities, against 27% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
A lot of Pontoon Beach works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Pontoon Beach: Granite City (12%), Edwardsville (9%) and Collinsville (5%). Next door ↓
Pontoon Beach has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Pontoon Beach went from 2,186 in 2013 to 3,220 in 2023, +47%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Pontoon Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Pontoon Beach gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Pontoon Beach’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pontoon Beach could be anywhere from C− to B−.
67% of the jobs in Pontoon Beach pay over $3,333 a month
3,220 jobs are based in Pontoon Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pontoon Beach, 2013 → 2023: 2,186 → 3,220. 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 Pontoon Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Pontoon Beach
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pontoon Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,309 commuters (the 6% 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.
Who commutes out of Pontoon Beach, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,351 residents head out to work, 92 work right here, and 3,128 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,700 people are in Pontoon Beach on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 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.
Where Pontoon Beach goes to work
Where Pontoon Beach clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
How far Pontoon Beach goes to work
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.
Getting around Pontoon Beach: mostly by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,462 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). 10.2% of Pontoon Beach households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Pontoon Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Pontoon Beach is 2,658th of 3,432 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,656 | Butler Beach FL | 4,610 | $77K | 10.1% | 11.1% | 6% | C |
| 2,657 | Indian River Estates FL | 7,685 | $64K | 20.7% | 5.9% | 2% | C |
| 2,658 | Pontoon Beach IL | 5,887 | $63K | 21.7% | 11.0% | 4% | C |
| 2,659 | Pratt KS | 6,574 | $64K | 14.3% | 3.7% | 48% | C |
| 2,660 | Redwood Falls MN | 5,040 | $62K | 17.2% | 3.3% | 46% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Pontoon Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Pontoon Beach’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pontoon Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontoon Beach | – | C | B− | 23 min | $62,861 |
| Granite City | 12% | C+ | B− | 22 min | $59,205 |
| Collinsville | 5% | B− | B | 24 min | $67,612 |
| Granite City Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Mitchell | under 2% | A− | D− | 27 min | $60,450 |
| Nameoki Township | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 22 min | $65,176 |
| Edwardsville | 9% | A | B+ | 23 min | $86,721 |
| Glen Carbon | under 2% | A− | C+ | 26 min | $97,168 |
| Madison | 2% | C− | C | 18 min | $49,326 |
| Chouteau Township | under 2% | B | C− | 24 min | $60,160 |
| Edwardsville Township | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $92,712 |
Same-state neighbors only. Granite City Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Granite City. Darker towns draw more of Pontoon Beach’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 Pontoon Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Pontoon Beach?
$62,861 (±$12,530) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pontoon Beach?
21.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pontoon Beach?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pontoon Beach work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Granite City (12%, 4 mi), St. Louis (10%, 12 mi), Edwardsville (9%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pontoon Beach walkable?
Pontoon Beach is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pontoon Beach without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pontoon Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pontoon Beach
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.