Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Vandalia’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
At home: 8% of workers have no commute at all (Illinois 16%). The poverty rate is 22.2% (Illinois 11.8%). Jobs and income earn Vandalia D; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Vandalia at work: what stands out
Vandalia trades workers with the towns around it
Vandalia has about as many jobs (2,928) as working residents (2,585), but they are mostly different people: 1,854 residents leave for work each day while 2,197 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Vandalia are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Vandalia are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
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.
Why Vandalia gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vandalia is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #752 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Vandalia’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($45,469, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vandalia could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who leaves Vandalia for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,854 residents head out to work, 731 work right here, and 2,197 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The trip to work from Vandalia: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vandalia workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,936 commuters (the 8% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Vandalia
About 39% 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.
6% of working residents work in Effingham
Where Vandalia clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
The 2,928 jobs based in Vandalia
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vandalia, 2013 → 2023: 3,563 → 2,928. 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 Vandalia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Vandalia
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vandalia is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #319 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Vandalia near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,096 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). 8.9% of Vandalia households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Vandalia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Vandalia next to U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| 13 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,979 | Bloomfield NM | 7,335 | $48K | 25.7% | 5.7% | 16% | D |
| 2,980 | Edna TX | 6,088 | $60K | 24.6% | 7.5% | 13% | D |
| 2,981 | Vandalia IL | 7,108 | $45K | 22.2% | 6.0% | 28% | D |
| 2,982 | Oxford NC | 8,985 | $43K | 28.3% | 7.0% | 15% | D |
| 2,983 | Pearsall TX | 9,170 | $49K | 28.0% | 4.9% | 22% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Vandalia, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Vandalia and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vandalia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandalia | – | D | A− | 19 min | $45,469 |
| Sharon Township | under 2% | B | C | 27 min | $106,727 |
| Sefton Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sefton Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Vandalia’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 Vandalia: questions
What is the median household income in Vandalia?
$45,469 (±$8,586) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vandalia?
22.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vandalia?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vandalia work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Effingham (6%, 32 mi), Springfield (4%, 63 mi), Greenville (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vandalia walkable?
Vandalia is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vandalia without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vandalia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vandalia
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.