Valmeyer has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Valmeyer are A− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Valmeyer has 215 jobs, against 616 working residents. Only 2% stay in Valmeyer for work; outside it, Waterloo is the main destination (14%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Valmeyer’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Valmeyer is better than 82% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Valmeyer’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Valmeyer could be anywhere from B to A.
The workday shuffle in and out of Valmeyer
On a workday 602 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 201 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Valmeyer on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
Where the trip to work from Valmeyer ends
Where Valmeyer clocks in
14% of workers
12% 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.
Valmeyer makes things: 33% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valmeyer, 2013 → 2023: 266 → 215. 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 Valmeyer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Valmeyer spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valmeyer workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 554 commuters (the 14% 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.
The distance from Valmeyer to work
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.
In Valmeyer, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Valmeyer is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 645 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). 2.6% of Valmeyer households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Valmeyer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, Valmeyer ranks 373rd of 4,312 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 371 | Watts Township PA | 1,266 | $94K | 3.9% | 3.1% | 1% | A− |
| 372 | Wooster AR | 1,150 | $112K | 5.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A− |
| 373 | Valmeyer IL | 1,204 | $95K | 4.8% | 0.6% | 2% | A− |
| 374 | Santa Susana CA | 1,235 | $100K | 4.8% | 3.3% | <1% | A− |
| 375 | Rafter J Ranch WY | 1,293 | $161K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Valmeyer, 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 Valmeyer: questions
What is the median household income in Valmeyer?
$94,821 (±$22,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valmeyer?
4.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valmeyer?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valmeyer work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterloo (14%, 8 mi), St. Louis (12%, 23 mi), Columbia (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Valmeyer walkable?
Valmeyer is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Valmeyer 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 Valmeyer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valmeyer
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.