Photo: Omnedon · Public domainMost of Rossville commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Only 3% work in Rossville; the top destination outside it is Danville (12%, 17 miles). 142 jobs are based in Rossville for 486 working residents. Rossville grades C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Rossville apart
Rossville is a place people come home to
There are 142 jobs based in Rossville, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Rossville has about 830 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
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 486 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Rossville: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Rossville is better than 24% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Rossville’s grade up (10.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.9%) is left out: Rossville’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Rossville could be anywhere from D to B−.
A workday in Rossville: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 473 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 129 people come in from elsewhere.
About 830 people are in Rossville on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
How far Rossville goes to work
About 35% 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.
The towns that employ Rossville’s residents
Where Rossville clocks in
12% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
What Rossville’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rossville, 2013 → 2023: 155 → 142. 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 Rossville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Rossville, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rossville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 420 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.
Most trips from Rossville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rossville is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Rossville 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 509 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). 5.2% of Rossville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rossville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, Rossville comes 2,699th 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,697 | Sun Prairie MT | 1,171 | $56K | 9.9% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 2,698 | South Point TX | 1,054 | $50K | 13.7% | 4.6% | 0% | C− |
| 2,699 | Rossville IL | 1,170 | $62K | 10.4% | 2.9% | 3% | C− |
| 2,700 | Washington Township IN | 1,234 | $72K | 20.0% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 2,701 | Moran Township MI | 1,072 | $68K | 9.0% | 5.1% | 8% | 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 Rossville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
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 Rossville: questions
What is the median household income in Rossville?
$62,417 (±$11,899) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rossville?
10.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rossville?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rossville work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danville (12%, 17 mi), Hoopeston (8%, 6 mi), Urbana (7%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rossville walkable?
Rossville is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rossville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rossville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rossville
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.