Elsah is a tiny village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 516 people and just one neighborhood, Elsah is the 745th largest community in Illinois. Elsah has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, 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.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 14.16% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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 an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the village experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller village.
The overall crime rate in Elsah is one of the lowest in the US. This makes it one of the safer places to live in the country in terms of crime.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Elsah spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 11.03 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the village are less than they would otherwise be.
Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Elsah. 64.00% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.
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, the neighborhood stands out within Illinois for its college student friendly environment. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood is home to a number of college students, is relatively walkable, and above average in safety. In combination, this makes it stand out for a good place for college students to consider. Because a number of college students live here, this neighborhood may be close to a college campus and offer certain amenities nearby geared towards the student body. While it's not an environment for everyone, ambitious scholars can enjoy seasonal excitement between semesters and school breaks, and parents can rest easy knowing that the area has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 9.6% of college-friendly places to live in IL.
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the neighborhood have a highly unusual 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.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a 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.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
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 the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
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.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. 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.