Elsah is a tiny village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 518 people and just one neighborhood, Elsah is the 745th largest community in Illinois. Much of the housing stock in Elsah was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic villages in the country.
Elsah is a decidedly white-collar village, with fully 87.78% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Elsah is a village of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Elsah who work in food service (24.07%), office and administrative support (11.85%), and sales jobs (10.00%).
Of important note, Elsah is also a village of artists. Elsah has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Elsah’s character.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 14.16% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Another notable thing is that Elsah is a major vacation destination. Much of the village’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Elsah’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
One of the benefits of Elsah is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 11.03 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
If knowledge is power, Elsah is a pretty powerful place. 64.00% of the adults in Elsah have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Elsah in 2022 was $8,878, which is low income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $35,512 for a family of four.
Elsah is a very ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Elsah home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Elsah residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Elsah include German, English, Irish, Kenyan, and Italian.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Elsah's cultural character, accounting for 15.10% of the village’s population.
The most common language spoken in Elsah is English. Other important languages spoken here include Korean and Spanish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, neighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 97.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 20.3% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
Also, with a nice mix of college students, safety from crime, and decent walkability, the neighborhood rates highly as a college student friendly place to live, and one that college students and their parents may want to consider. NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that it rates more highly for a good place for college students to live than 86.8% of the neighborhoods in IL. This often also means that the area has certain amenities and services geared towards college students, from undergraduates to graduate students.
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. Residents of this neighborhood must really love automobiles. NeighborhoodScout's Analysis reveals that 34.7% of the households here have four, five, or more cars. That is more cars per household than in 96.0% of the neighborhoods in the nation.
More people in choose to walk to work each day (10.9%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Canadian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Canadian ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Elsah are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 75.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 33.5% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 31.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (19.0%), and 14.4% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 96.9% of households. Some people also speak Italian (3.3%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Elsah, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (30.0%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (11.2%), and residents who report English roots (10.1%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (2.8%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (1.4%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (37.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (76.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (10.9%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.