Earning a living in St. Johns
Working residents average 26 minutes each way; Illinois averages 28, the U.S. 26. For 0% of workers, the job is at home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%. 40 jobs are based in St. Johns; 59 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes St. Johns
On a workday 59 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 140 people are in St. Johns on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Du Quoin
Where St. Johns clocks in
20% of workers
10% 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.
68% of the jobs in St. Johns pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Johns, 2013 → 2023: 40 → 40. 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. Johns’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from St. Johns: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Johns workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 112 commuters (the 0% 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.
The commute from St. Johns, by distance
About 20% 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.
20% of St. Johns works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Du Quoin. Darker towns draw more of St. Johns’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 St. Johns: questions
What is the median household income in St. Johns?
$62,500 (±$47,008) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Johns?
14.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Johns?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Johns work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Du Quoin (20%, 2 mi), Carbondale (10%, 22 mi), Mount Vernon (7%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around St. Johns without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Johns, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Johns
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.