Photo: 22thecrobot · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Zion works elsewhere
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago. 4,211 jobs are based in Zion for 10,245 working residents. Zion grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Zion at work: what stands out
The four measures behind Zion’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Zion is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #595 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Zion’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Zion could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The kinds of work in Zion
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Zion, 2013 → 2023: 5,797 → 4,211. 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 Zion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Zion by day and by night
On a workday 9,581 residents head out to work, 664 work right here, and 3,547 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Zion on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
11% of working residents work in Waukegan
Where Zion clocks in
11% 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.
The daily trip from Zion: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Zion workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,833 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Zion
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Zion
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Zion is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #245 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% 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 11,794 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.4% of Zion households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Zion’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,304th of 1,642: where Zion ranks among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,302 | Riverside OH | 24,706 | $61K | 15.3% | 6.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,303 | Stephenville TX | 21,793 | $53K | 20.0% | 7.3% | 34% | C+ |
| 1,304 | Zion IL | 24,447 | $63K | 16.0% | 6.7% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,305 | Loves Park IL | 23,712 | $62K | 14.4% | 6.3% | 12% | C+ |
| 1,306 | Weathersfield Township OH | 24,277 | $52K | 14.8% | 4.8% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Zion, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Zion
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Zion workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zion | – | C+ | A− | 28 min | $63,104 |
| Zion Township | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Benton Township | under 3% | B− | B+ | 29 min | $82,995 |
| Beach Park | under 3% | B | A− | 28 min | $85,664 |
| Wadsworth | under 3% | B | C | 27 min | $142,738 |
| Newport Township | under 3% | B+ | B− | 27 min | $125,074 |
| Winthrop Harbor | under 3% | B | C+ | 30 min | $95,690 |
Same-state neighbors only. Zion Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Zion’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 Zion: questions
What is the median household income in Zion?
$63,104 (±$10,123) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Zion?
16.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Zion?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Zion work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waukegan (11%, 6 mi), Chicago (7%, 44 mi), Gurnee (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Zion walkable?
Zion is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Zion without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Zion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Zion
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.