Most of Royal Lakes commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Only 4% work in Royal Lakes itself; outside it, Edwardsville draws the most (7%, 22 miles). 6 jobs are based in Royal Lakes for 96 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 12% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Royal Lakes quiets down on a workday
On a workday 92 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 2 people come in from elsewhere.
About 81 people are in Royal Lakes on a workday afternoon, 53% 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.
Where Royal Lakes’ working residents head each day
Where Royal Lakes clocks in
7% of workers
5% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Royal Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 16 → 6. 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 Royal Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Royal Lakes
of Royal Lakes workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29 commuters (the 12% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Royal Lakes
About 22% 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.
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 Royal Lakes: questions
What is the poverty rate in Royal Lakes?
24.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Royal Lakes work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edwardsville (7%, 22 mi), Springfield (5%, 50 mi), St. Louis (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Royal Lakes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 41% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Royal Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Royal Lakes
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.