Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0Most of Thomson commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. There are 163 jobs in Thomson for 413 working residents. Thomson grades D for jobs and income.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Thomson
A big share show a job far from home
47% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Thomson 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 ↓
Few Thomson workers work from home
Only 1% 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; with 413 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Thomson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Thomson is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Thomson’s grade up ($61,250, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (8.9%) is left out: Thomson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Thomson could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Near or far: the trip to work from Thomson
About 47% 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.
Thomson’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomson workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 147 commuters (the 1% 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.
Thomson quiets down on a workday
On a workday 392 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 142 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Thomson on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
8% of working residents work in Clinton
Where Thomson clocks in
8% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Thomson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomson, 2013 → 2023: 172 → 163. 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 Thomson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Thomson next to U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200: 4,949th of 6,161 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,947 | Hopewell Township PA | 1,881 | $64K | 16.6% | 4.5% | 2% | D |
| 4,948 | Ponderay ID | 2,024 | $51K | 14.6% | 6.5% | 16% | D |
| 4,949 | Thomson IL | 1,606 | $61K | 21.3% | 8.9% | 5% | D |
| 4,950 | Nettleton MS | 1,934 | $42K | 20.8% | 6.0% | 4% | D |
| 4,951 | Rocky Top TN | 1,681 | $33K | 36.6% | 10.6% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Thomson, 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 Thomson: questions
What is the median household income in Thomson?
$61,250 (±$25,351) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomson?
21.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomson?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomson work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clinton (8%, 11 mi), Savanna (6%, 8 mi), Chicago (6%, 125 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Thomson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thomson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomson
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.