Summit Township has lower unemployment (0.1%) than 98% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Summit Township is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Summit Township A; getting around on foot earns it C. Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Summit Township at work: what stands out
43% of Summit Township works in Effingham
737 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Effingham, 5.5 miles away across the town line. That’s 14 times as many as work in Summit Township itself. The commute map ↓
Summit Township is a place people come home to
There are 456 jobs based in Summit Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Summit Township has about 2,500 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Summit Township 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Summit Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Summit Township fell from 644 in 2013 to 456 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Summit Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Summit Township is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #114 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Summit Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Summit Township could be anywhere from A− to A.
43% of working residents work in Effingham
Where Summit Township clocks in
43% of workers
3% 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.
Who commutes out of Summit Township, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,644 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 405 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Summit Township on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
Getting to work from Summit Township takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Summit Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,773 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.
33% of the jobs in Summit Township make or build things
456 jobs are based in Summit Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Summit Township, 2013 → 2023: 644 → 456. 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 Summit Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Summit Township’s workers travel
About 27% 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.
For most of Summit Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Summit Township is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #667 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,888 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). 3.1% of Summit Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Summit Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Summit Township is 399th of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Lakewood IL | 4,293 | $174K | 3.5% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 397 | Hurstbourne KY | 4,787 | $116K | 5.5% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| 398 | Demarest NJ | 4,893 | $208K | 1.1% | 7.1% | 3% | A |
| 399 | Summit Township IL | 3,723 | $111K | 2.7% | 0.1% | 3% | A |
| 400 | Silver Creek Township MN | 2,620 | $116K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| 401 | Township 7 NE | 2,760 | $93K | 5.3% | 0.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Summit Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bordering towns draw 43% of Summit Township’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Summit Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit Township | – | A | C | 22 min | $111,488 |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | D | D− | 21 min | $72,560 |
| Douglas Township | under 2% | B | B+ | 14 min | $74,666 |
| Moccasin Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Banner Township | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Effingham | 43% | B− | B+ | 13 min | $72,377 |
Same-state neighbors only. Moccasin Township and Banner Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Effingham. Darker towns draw more of Summit 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 Summit Township: questions
What is the median household income in Summit Township?
$111,488 (±$16,907) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Summit Township?
2.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Summit Township?
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 Summit Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Effingham (43%, 6 mi), Teutopolis (5%, 9 mi), Springfield (3%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Summit Township walkable?
Summit Township is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Summit Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Summit Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Summit 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.