North Grove School · Photo: lester1950 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Sycamore Township top those of 65% of U.S. towns
At 28 minutes each way, commutes from Sycamore Township run about the Illinois average. 7.5% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 11.8% for Illinois as a whole. The two grades for Sycamore Township are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sycamore Township: the figures worth knowing
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sycamore Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sycamore Township is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #305 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Sycamore Township’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sycamore Township could be anywhere from B− to A.
19% of working residents work in Sycamore
Where Sycamore Township clocks in
14% 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.
How a workday changes Sycamore Township
On a workday 5,808 residents head out to work, 997 work right here, and 3,728 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Sycamore Township on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.69 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 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in Sycamore Township: 4,725 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sycamore Township, 2014 → 2024: 4,182 → 4,725. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sycamore Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Sycamore Township’s commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sycamore Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,279 commuters (the 15% 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.
How far Sycamore Township’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Sycamore Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sycamore Township is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #333 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,359 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). 4.1% of Sycamore Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sycamore Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Sycamore Township is 808th of 1,969 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 806 | Greenwood Township IL | 15,270 | $98K | 4.7% | 4.9% | 4% | B+ |
| 807 | Fruita CO | 14,003 | $87K | 4.1% | 2.5% | 15% | B+ |
| 808 | Sycamore Township IL | 15,039 | $87K | 7.5% | 3.3% | 15% | B+ |
| 809 | East Lampeter Township PA | 18,814 | $87K | 9.5% | 3.3% | 12% | B+ |
| 810 | Seymour TN | 16,216 | $83K | 8.3% | 3.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,969 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Sycamore Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Sycamore Township and its neighbors: 19% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sycamore Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sycamore Township | – | B+ | B+ | 28 min | $87,400 |
| Mayfield Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Burlington Township | under 2% | A+ | B | 29 min | $123,836 |
| Cortland Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 26 min | $99,292 |
| Sycamore | 19% | B+ | A− | 26 min | $84,120 |
Same-state neighbors only. Mayfield Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sycamore. Darker towns draw more of Sycamore 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 2024, 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 Sycamore Township: questions
What is the median household income in Sycamore Township?
$87,400 (±$10,657) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sycamore Township?
7.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sycamore Township?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sycamore Township work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sycamore (19%, 2 mi), DeKalb (14%, 8 mi), Elgin (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Sycamore Township walkable?
Sycamore Township is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sycamore Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sycamore Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sycamore Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.