Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domainWork and commuting in Trenton
Only 8% work in Trenton itself; outside it, Breese draws the most (7%, 9 miles). For jobs and income Trenton is better than 55% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (A−). A typical one-way commute lasts 25 minutes; Illinois averages 28, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Why Trenton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Trenton’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.4%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Trenton could be anywhere from C− to A.
A workday in Trenton: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,221 residents head out to work, 103 work right here, and 713 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Trenton on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
Out of Trenton to work: where people go
Where Trenton clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
Inside Trenton’s 816 jobs
816 jobs are based in Trenton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Trenton, 2013 → 2023: 759 → 816. 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 Trenton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Trenton’s commute takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Trenton workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,227 commuters (the 10% 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.
Half of Trenton commutes less than 17 miles
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.
Trenton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,365 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). 6.2% of Trenton households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Trenton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Trenton is 1,971st among 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,969 | Andover NH | 2,456 | $89K | 10.5% | 2.0% | 11% | B |
| 1,970 | Keenesburg CO | 2,107 | $84K | 10.0% | 2.1% | 4% | B |
| 1,971 | Trenton IL | 2,643 | $81K | 12.4% | 4.1% | 8% | B |
| 1,972 | Lakehurst NJ | 2,735 | $85K | 10.2% | 5.8% | 3% | B |
| 1,973 | Orchard Park NY | 3,079 | $100K | 14.6% | 6.0% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Trenton, 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 Trenton: questions
What is the median household income in Trenton?
$80,795 (±$23,477) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Trenton?
12.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Trenton?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Trenton work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Breese (7%, 9 mi), Belleville (7%, 18 mi), St. Louis (6%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Trenton walkable?
Trenton is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Trenton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Trenton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Trenton
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.