Unemployment in Spring Valley (2.7%) is lower than in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Spring Valley itself; outside it, Peru draws the most (17%, 3 miles). For jobs and income Spring Valley is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (C+). 4% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Spring Valley at work: what stands out
Spring Valley trades workers with the towns around it
Spring Valley has about as many jobs (2,602) as working residents (2,409), but they are mostly different people: 2,060 residents leave for work each day while 2,253 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Spring Valley are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
52% of the jobs in Spring Valley are in trade, transport and utilities, against 26% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Spring Valley are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Spring Valley has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Spring Valley went from 1,609 in 2013 to 2,602 in 2023, +62%. The jobs ↓
Few Spring Valley workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Spring Valley earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Spring Valley’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($70,598, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spring Valley could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
A workday in Spring Valley: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,060 residents head out to work, 349 work right here, and 2,253 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).
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 2,602 jobs based in Spring Valley
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spring Valley, 2013 → 2023: 1,609 → 2,602. 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 Spring Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Spring Valley takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spring Valley workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,462 commuters (the 4% 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.
Commuting out of Spring Valley: the destinations
Where Spring Valley clocks in
17% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Miles to work from Spring Valley
About 29% 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.
For most of Spring Valley, work means a drive
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,560 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). 8.2% of Spring Valley households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spring Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Spring Valley is 1,522nd of 3,541 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,520 | Washingtonville NY | 5,640 | $95K | 8.2% | 5.6% | 7% | B |
| 1,521 | Fort Ann NY | 4,247 | $86K | 5.2% | 3.4% | 9% | B |
| 1,522 | Spring Valley IL | 5,408 | $71K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 14% | B |
| 1,523 | Warwick NY | 6,534 | $90K | 5.5% | 5.6% | 12% | B |
| 1,524 | North Township IN | 4,030 | $73K | 9.4% | 2.3% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Spring Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Spring Valley and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Hall Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spring Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Valley | – | B | C+ | 19 min | $70,598 |
| Peru Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Hall Township | 2% | B | C | 19 min | $71,296 |
Same-state neighbors only. Peru Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Spring Valley’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 Spring Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Spring Valley?
$70,598 (±$8,239) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spring Valley?
7.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spring Valley?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spring Valley work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peru (17%, 3 mi), LaSalle (6%, 4 mi), Ottawa (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spring Valley walkable?
Spring Valley is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spring Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spring Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spring Valley
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.