Staunton has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Staunton has 1,054 jobs; 2,258 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Staunton are C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Staunton
No single place dominates Staunton’s commute
The biggest draw, Edwardsville, gets only 6% of working residents, and 58% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Staunton residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Staunton are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Staunton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Staunton is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #563 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Staunton’s grade up (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($57,904, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Staunton could be anywhere from D to B+.
Where people from Staunton work
Where Staunton clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Commuting from Staunton: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Staunton workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,736 commuters (the 6% 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.
Staunton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,991 residents head out to work, 267 work right here, and 787 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Staunton on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
What Staunton’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Staunton, 2013 → 2023: 832 → 1,054. 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 Staunton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Staunton’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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.
The commute in Staunton is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Staunton is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #463 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 1,839 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). 5.6% of Staunton households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Staunton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Staunton next to U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700: 2,324th of 3,692 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,322 | Wooster Township OH | 4,603 | $70K | 10.0% | 6.8% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,323 | North Terre Haute IN | 4,534 | $55K | 15.7% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,324 | Staunton IL | 4,932 | $58K | 14.5% | 3.1% | 12% | C+ |
| 2,325 | Morton MS | 3,694 | $42K | 16.1% | 0.3% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,326 | Stroudsburg PA | 5,809 | $67K | 12.0% | 5.0% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | 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 Staunton, 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 Staunton: questions
What is the median household income in Staunton?
$57,904 (±$13,393) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Staunton?
14.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Staunton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Staunton work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edwardsville (6%, 19 mi), St. Louis (5%, 36 mi), Springfield (4%, 54 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Staunton walkable?
Staunton is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Staunton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Staunton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Staunton
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.