Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5Household incomes in Rockvale Township are higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers (Illinois 16%). 2.5% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.8% across Illinois. The two grades for Rockvale Township are A for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Rockvale Township: the gist
Rockvale Township is where the jobs are
Rockvale Township has 1,565 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,600 people are in town, 47% more than the 1,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Rockvale Township pay better than its residents’ jobs
87% of the jobs based in Rockvale Township pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 61% of the jobs Rockvale Township residents hold. 97% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Rockvale Township. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
45% of the jobs in Rockvale Township are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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 738 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Rockvale Township
On income, poverty and job access, Rockvale Township is better than 88% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Rockvale Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (9.3%) is left out: Rockvale 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, Rockvale Township could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Who works in Rockvale Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 697 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 1,524 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Rockvale Township on a workday afternoon, 47% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
In Rockvale Township, 39% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
1,565 jobs are based in Rockvale Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockvale Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,352 → 1,565. 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 Rockvale Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Rockvale Township
Where Rockvale Township clocks in
23% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockvale Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 696 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.
The commute from Rockvale Township, by distance
About 24% 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 Rockvale Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockvale Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Rockvale Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 750 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). 0.0% of Rockvale Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rockvale Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rockvale Township ranks: 420th of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 418 | Farmingdale NJ | 1,502 | $89K | 5.7% | 11.2% | 3% | A |
| 419 | Bayou Vista TX | 1,755 | $120K | 7.6% | 4.5% | <1% | A |
| 420 | Rockvale Township IL | 1,767 | $125K | 2.5% | 9.3% | 6% | A |
| 421 | Oakwood Hills IL | 2,046 | $110K | 2.9% | 4.4% | <1% | A |
| 422 | Teutopolis IL | 1,721 | $116K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Rockvale Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns around Rockvale Township
The biggest share goes to Oregon-Nashua Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rockvale Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockvale Township | – | A | D | 30 min | $125,156 |
| Leaf River Township | under 3% | B+ | C | 30 min | $85,833 |
| Marion Township | under 3% | A− | C− | 25 min | $104,924 |
| Byron Township | under 3% | A− | B | 28 min | $90,069 |
| Mount Morris Township | under 3% | C+ | B+ | 21 min | $49,531 |
| Oregon-Nashua Township | 3% | C+ | B− | 24 min | $80,769 |
| Pine Rock Township | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Pine Rock Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rockvale 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 Rockvale Township: questions
What is the median household income in Rockvale Township?
$125,156 (±$38,771) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockvale Township?
2.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockvale Township?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockvale Township work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockford (23%, 18 mi), Byron (9%, 5 mi), Oregon (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockvale Township walkable?
Rockvale Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockvale Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockvale Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockvale 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.