With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of St. Jacob works elsewhere
Measured by household income, St. Jacob is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Employers in St. Jacob report 155 jobs; 732 of its residents have a job. St. Jacob grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in St. Jacob, in a few figures
St. Jacob and Highland trade workers both ways
Highland is the top workplace for St. Jacob residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in St. Jacob come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
St. Jacob is a place people come home to
There are 155 jobs based in St. Jacob, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday St. Jacob has about 790 people in it, 42% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 732 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why St. Jacob gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, St. Jacob is better than 93% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: St. Jacob’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, St. Jacob could be anywhere from A− to A+.
15% of working residents work in Highland
Where St. Jacob clocks in
7% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of St. Jacob
On a workday 720 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 143 people come in from elsewhere.
About 790 people are in St. Jacob on a workday afternoon, 42% 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.
Jobs in St. Jacob: what the 155 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Jacob, 2013 → 2023: 104 → 155. 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 St. Jacob’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from St. Jacob: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Jacob workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 811 commuters (the 8% 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 St. Jacob
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.
Driving is how St. Jacob gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Jacob is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place St. Jacob 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 883 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 0.5% of St. Jacob households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Jacob’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, St. Jacob is 211th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 209 | Wetherington OH | 1,138 | $168K | 8.2% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 210 | Machias WA | 1,276 | $152K | 5.1% | 5.7% | 1% | A |
| 211 | St. Jacob IL | 1,371 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A |
| 212 | Dane WI | 1,119 | $108K | 3.9% | 0.5% | <1% | A |
| 213 | Coburg OR | 1,373 | $98K | 1.5% | 8.9% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 St. Jacob, 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 St. Jacob: questions
What is the median household income in St. Jacob?
$112,188 (±$15,231) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Jacob?
3.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Jacob?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Jacob work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Highland (15%, 6 mi), St. Louis (7%, 27 mi), Edwardsville (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Jacob walkable?
St. Jacob is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Jacob without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Jacob, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Jacob
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.