Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0West Salem has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Home is the office for 2% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. West Salem has 84 jobs; 278 of its residents have a job. Only 3% stay in West Salem for work; outside it, Albion is the main destination (26%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in West Salem: the figures worth knowing
West Salem is a place people come home to
There are 84 jobs based in West Salem, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday West Salem has about 540 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few West Salem workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from West Salem are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. 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 278 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The workday shuffle in and out of West Salem
On a workday 270 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 76 people come in from elsewhere.
About 540 people are in West Salem on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
The daily trip from West Salem: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Salem workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 259 commuters (the 2% 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.
Where West Salem goes to work
Where West Salem clocks in
26% of workers
6% 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.
In West Salem, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Salem, 2013 → 2023: 113 → 84. 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 West Salem’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far West Salem goes to work
About 28% 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.
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 West Salem: questions
What is the median household income in West Salem?
$49,821 (±$14,530) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Salem?
8.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Salem?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Salem work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albion (26%, 10 mi), Olney (6%, 15 mi), Olney Township (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around West Salem without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Salem, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Salem
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.