Work & commute · East Alton

Work & commute in East Alton, IL

Most working residents leave East Alton for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Alton (11%), Edwardsville (11%) and Wood River (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

180 of 2,335 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,155 East Alton residents head out of town to work, 180 work right here, and 3,209 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in East Alton.

2,155live here, work elsewhere

180live and work here

3,209work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where East Alton goes to work

Alton2.6 mi away

11%248

Edwardsville9.1 mi away

11%248

East Alton (in town)right here

8%180

Wood River2.2 mi away

6%144

St. Louis, MO18.7 mi away

5%111

Granite City10.8 mi away

3%76

Godfrey7.7 mi away

3%61

Bethalto3.6 mi away

3%60

Chicago240.6 mi away

2%54

Belleville26.3 mi away

2%52

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%1,101

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far East Alton commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

46%

32%

15%

46%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

East Alton is balanced between jobs and homes

1.45jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in East Alton are

3,389 jobs are based in East Alton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in East Alton

3,389 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)60%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)32%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs East Alton residents hold

2,335 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month49%

−13%

Jobs based in East Alton, 2013 → 2023: 3,880 → 3,389. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.