With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Preston Township works elsewhere
There are 123 jobs in Preston Township; 491 of its residents have a job. Preston Township grades C− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Preston Township is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Preston Township: the figures worth knowing
Preston Township and Olney trade workers both ways
Olney is the top workplace for Preston Township residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Preston Township come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Preston Township is a place people come home to
There are 123 jobs based in Preston Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Preston Township has about 800 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Preston Township 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; with 491 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Preston Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Preston Township is better than 20% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Preston Township’s grade up (9.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Preston 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, Preston Township could be anywhere from D to C+.
29% of working residents work in Olney
Where Preston Township clocks in
29% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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 workday in Preston Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 488 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 120 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Preston Township on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
The daily trip from Preston Township: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Preston Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 872 commuters (the 7% 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.
Most jobs in Preston Township are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Preston Township, 2013 → 2023: 35 → 123. 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 Preston Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Preston Township
About 27% 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.
Driving is how Preston Township gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Preston Township is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 3.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 934 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). 2.2% of Preston Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Preston Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Preston Township is 2,953rd of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,951 | Cando ND | 1,051 | $52K | 6.4% | 0.2% | 30% | C− |
| 2,952 | Ansonia OH | 1,147 | $62K | 17.2% | 5.3% | 2% | C− |
| 2,953 | Preston Township IL | 1,166 | $54K | 9.2% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 2,954 | Canton ME | 1,123 | $52K | 8.4% | 5.7% | 1% | C− |
| 2,955 | Bridgewater Township OH | 1,404 | $77K | 23.3% | 4.7% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Preston Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Preston Township and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Olney Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Preston Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Township | – | C− | C | 23 min | $53,941 |
| German Township | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Olney Township | 8% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Ste. Marie Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Fox Township | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Denver Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| West Liberty | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. German Township, Ste. Marie Township, Fox Township, Denver Township and West Liberty: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Olney Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Preston 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 Preston Township: questions
What is the median household income in Preston Township?
$53,941 (±$5,032) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Preston Township?
9.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Preston Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Preston Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Olney (29%, 6 mi), Olney Township (8%, 7 mi), Flora (5%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Preston Township walkable?
Preston Township is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 3.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Preston Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Preston Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Preston 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.