Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnemployment in Sullivan Township (1.8%) is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Sullivan Township is better than 58% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (A). 2% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole. About one in four work in Sullivan Township itself; outside it, Sullivan draws the most (26%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Sullivan Township in brief
Sullivan Township and Sullivan trade workers both ways
Sullivan is the top workplace for Sullivan Township residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Sullivan Township come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Sullivan Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Sullivan Township trades workers with the towns around it
Sullivan Township has about as many jobs (2,778) as working residents (2,970), but they are mostly different people: 2,163 residents leave for work each day while 1,971 people come in. Only 29% of the jobs in Sullivan Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Sullivan Township makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in Sullivan Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Sullivan Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Few Sullivan Township workers work from home
Only 2% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sullivan Township
Unemployment holds Sullivan Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sullivan Township could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Where the trip to work from Sullivan Township ends
Where Sullivan Township clocks in
26% 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.
Getting to work from Sullivan Township takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sullivan Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,944 commuters (the 2% 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 daily flow of workers through Sullivan Township
On a workday 2,163 residents head out to work, 807 work right here, and 1,971 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 (0.94 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.
Goods jobs make up 44% of work in Sullivan Township
2,778 jobs are based in Sullivan Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sullivan Township, 2013 → 2023: 2,385 → 2,778. 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 Sullivan Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Sullivan Township’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Sullivan Township
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 8.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,990 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). 9.2% of Sullivan Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sullivan Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sullivan Township places 1,565th of 3,297 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,400
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| 13 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,563 | Lexington VA | 7,769 | $85K | 14.0% | 0.6% | 44% | B |
| 1,564 | Withamsville OH | 7,429 | $72K | 13.7% | 3.1% | 2% | B |
| 1,565 | Sullivan Township IL | 6,229 | $69K | 8.0% | 1.8% | 27% | B |
| 1,566 | Tolono Township IL | 6,256 | $91K | 5.5% | 6.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,567 | Ohio Township IN | 4,886 | $76K | 7.9% | 3.9% | 18% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,297 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Sullivan Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Sullivan Township and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sullivan Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sullivan Township | – | B | A | 18 min | $68,984 |
| Marrowbone Township | under 3% | C− | C | 24 min | $47,917 |
| East Nelson Township | under 3% | B+ | B− | 26 min | $104,375 |
| Jonathan Creek Township | under 3% | A− | B− | 20 min | $102,188 |
| Lovington Township | under 3% | C | C+ | 23 min | $60,476 |
| Todds Point Township | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Windsor Township | under 3% | C | C+ | 24 min | $69,722 |
Same-state neighbors only. Todds Point Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sullivan 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 Sullivan Township: questions
What is the median household income in Sullivan Township?
$68,984 (±$6,044) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sullivan Township?
8.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sullivan Township?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sullivan Township work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sullivan (26%, 2 mi), Decatur (8%, 24 mi), Arthur (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sullivan Township walkable?
Sullivan Township is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sullivan Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sullivan Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sullivan 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.