Photo: Nyttend · Public domainAt 2.4%, unemployment in Sullivan is lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Sullivan are B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Home is the office for 2% of workers; Illinois has 16%. About one in four work in Sullivan; the top destination outside it is Arthur (6%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Sullivan apart
Commutes from Sullivan are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Sullivan 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 ↓
Sullivan makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Sullivan are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Sullivan residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Sullivan: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sullivan is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #510 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Sullivan’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($63,229, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sullivan could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The trip to work from Sullivan: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sullivan workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,929 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.
Sullivan works in goods: 43% of its jobs
2,618 jobs are based in Sullivan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sullivan, 2013 → 2023: 2,302 → 2,618. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Sullivan: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,505 residents head out to work, 634 work right here, and 1,984 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Sullivan on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 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.
Where people from Sullivan work
Where Sullivan clocks in
6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Sullivan
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
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sullivan is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #95 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Sullivan 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 1,962 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). 12.6% of Sullivan households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sullivan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sullivan places 2,185th of 4,039 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | 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 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,183 | Elroy NC | 3,251 | $63K | 14.0% | 2.1% | <1% | B− |
| 2,184 | Vilonia AR | 4,894 | $82K | 16.0% | 3.8% | 8% | B− |
| 2,185 | Sullivan IL | 4,310 | $63K | 10.3% | 2.4% | 30% | B− |
| 2,186 | Tipton IN | 5,263 | $60K | 17.7% | 1.7% | 22% | B− |
| 2,187 | Randolph Township IN | 4,334 | $66K | 9.2% | 1.3% | 16% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | 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 Sullivan, 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 Sullivan: questions
What is the median household income in Sullivan?
$63,229 (±$9,240) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sullivan?
10.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sullivan?
16 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 work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Arthur (6%, 11 mi), Decatur (6%, 25 mi), Mattoon (6%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sullivan walkable?
Sullivan is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sullivan without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sullivan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sullivan
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.