Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnemployment in Waterloo (2.3%) is lower than in 80% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Waterloo; the top destination outside it is St. Louis (11%, 21 miles). For jobs and income Waterloo is better than 88% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). Measured by household income, Waterloo is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Waterloo: the figures worth knowing
A lot of Waterloo workers cross into Missouri
32% of Waterloo workers work outside Illinois, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, St. Louis (11%), Creve Coeur (2%) and Maryland Heights (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Waterloo
66% of Waterloo residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Waterloo pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 84% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
Waterloo’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Waterloo’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waterloo could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Where Waterloo goes to work
Where Waterloo clocks in
11% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
What Waterloo’s employers do
3,219 jobs are based in Waterloo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 2,974 → 3,219. 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 Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Waterloo
On a workday 4,315 residents head out to work, 817 work right here, and 2,402 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,200 people are in Waterloo on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
From Waterloo, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterloo workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,023 commuters (the 13% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Waterloo
About 15% 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.
In Waterloo, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of 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 5,769 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). 6.3% of Waterloo households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Waterloo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Waterloo comes 470th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 468 | Raritan NJ | 8,516 | $108K | 8.0% | 2.8% | 7% | A |
| 469 | Greendale WI | 14,426 | $95K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 6% | A |
| 470 | Waterloo IL | 11,132 | $99K | 5.9% | 2.3% | 16% | A |
| 471 | Farmington MI | 11,409 | $98K | 4.8% | 3.9% | 4% | A |
| 472 | Manteno Township IL | 11,202 | $92K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Waterloo, 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 Waterloo: questions
What is the median household income in Waterloo?
$98,711 (±$12,639) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterloo?
5.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterloo?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterloo work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (11%, 21 mi), Columbia (5%, 9 mi), Belleville (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterloo walkable?
Waterloo is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterloo 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 Waterloo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterloo
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.