Household incomes in Prairie Grove top those of 94% of U.S. towns
3.7% of residents live below the poverty line; Illinois has 11.8%. For jobs and income Prairie Grove is better than 94% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Prairie Grove: the gist
Prairie Grove’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Prairie Grove is Chicago, 43 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (84) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Prairie Grove than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Prairie Grove fell from 1,091 in 2014 to 432 in 2024, −60%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Prairie Grove makes and builds things
51% of the jobs based in Prairie Grove are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Prairie Grove residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 861 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Prairie Grove
Household income is its strongest input ($141,389, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Prairie Grove could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Where in the region Prairie Grove works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
51% of the jobs in Prairie Grove make or build things
432 jobs are based in Prairie Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prairie Grove, 2014 → 2024: 1,091 → 432. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Prairie Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Prairie Grove, and who commutes in
On a workday 858 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 429 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Prairie Grove on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.50 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 2024, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Prairie Grove clocks in
10% 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.
Getting to work from Prairie Grove takes about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prairie Grove workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 824 commuters (the 26% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Prairie Grove
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,118 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 1.5% of Prairie Grove households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Prairie Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Prairie Grove is 210th of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Port Barrington IL | 1,584 | $150K | 2.7% | 2.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 208 | Del Rey Oaks CA | 1,536 | $135K | 3.8% | 12.4% | 3% | A |
| 209 | Montverde FL | 1,836 | $97K | 3.6% | 1.1% | 3% | A |
| 210 | Prairie Grove IL | 1,939 | $141K | 3.7% | 3.2% | <1% | A |
| 211 | Lebanon NJ | 1,676 | $110K | 4.7% | 2.5% | 7% | A |
| 212 | Haymarket VA | 1,602 | $174K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Prairie Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
17% of Prairie Grove works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to McHenry (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Prairie Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Grove | – | A | A− | 35 min | $141,389 |
| Crystal Lake | 8% | A− | A− | 29 min | $108,418 |
| McHenry | 9% | A− | B+ | 29 min | $86,315 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Prairie Grove’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 2024, 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 Prairie Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Prairie Grove?
$141,389 (±$24,517) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prairie Grove?
3.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prairie Grove?
35 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prairie Grove work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (10%, 43 mi), McHenry (9%, 4 mi), Crystal Lake (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Prairie Grove walkable?
Prairie Grove is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prairie Grove without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prairie Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prairie Grove
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.