Photo: w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0Springfield Township’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Springfield Township grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Poverty touches 31.3% of residents, against 11.8% across Illinois. 7% of workers work from home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Springfield Township: the figures worth knowing
Springfield Township trades workers with the towns around it
Springfield Township has about as many jobs (2,200) as working residents (2,318), but they are mostly different people: 2,234 residents leave for work each day while 2,116 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in Springfield Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
More than half of Springfield Township works in Springfield
1,329 working residents, 57%, have their main job in Springfield, 3.9 miles away across the town line. That’s 14 times as many as work in Springfield Township itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Springfield Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Springfield Township residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. 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.
The four measures behind Springfield Township’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Springfield Township is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #747 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Springfield Township’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (15.1%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Springfield Township stays D.
Who leaves Springfield Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,234 residents head out to work, 84 work right here, and 2,116 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 (0.95 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.
57% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Springfield Township clocks in
57% of workers
2% 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.
Springfield Township’s commute takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Springfield Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,037 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.
Where in the region Springfield Township works
About 26% 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.
Making and building: 33% of jobs based in Springfield Township
2,200 jobs are based in Springfield Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Springfield Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,840 → 2,200. 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 Springfield Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Springfield Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Springfield Township is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #341 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,197 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 48% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.1% of Springfield Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Springfield Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Springfield Township compares with U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,320 | Norwich NY | 6,538 | $53K | 14.2% | 11.8% | 27% | D |
| 3,321 | Elkins WV | 6,622 | $44K | 17.3% | 6.5% | 36% | D |
| 3,322 | Springfield Township IL | 5,485 | $40K | 31.3% | 15.1% | 4% | D |
| 3,323 | Fort Bragg CA | 6,946 | $56K | 18.2% | 6.3% | 45% | D |
| 3,324 | St. James MO | 3,925 | $53K | 19.4% | 7.5% | 20% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | 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 Springfield Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
58% of Springfield Township works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Springfield (57%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Springfield Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Township | – | D | B+ | 15 min | $39,507 |
| Capital Township | under 1% | C | A | 17 min | $65,902 |
| Springfield | 57% | C | A | 17 min | $66,064 |
| Fancy Creek Township | under 1% | A | B− | 21 min | $145,385 |
| Gardner Township | under 1% | A− | D | 19 min | $103,932 |
| Clear Lake Township | under 1% | A− | C+ | 24 min | $86,473 |
| Sherman | 1% | A | B− | 21 min | $148,906 |
| Grandview | under 1% | C− | A+ | 17 min | $48,819 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Springfield 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 Springfield Township: questions
What is the median household income in Springfield Township?
$39,507 (±$7,591) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Springfield Township?
31.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Springfield Township?
15 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Springfield Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (57%, 4 mi), Chicago (2%, 172 mi), Peoria (1%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Springfield Township walkable?
Springfield Township is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Springfield Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 48% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Springfield Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Springfield 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.