Work & commute · Bedford

Work & commute in Bedford, IL

Most working residents leave Bedford for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Fairfield (11%), Flora (11%) and Mount Vernon (7%). Half commute less than 29 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22 of 371 working residents

Typical commute

29 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 349 Bedford residents head out of town to work, 22 work right here, and 174 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bedford.

349live here, work elsewhere

22live and work here

174work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bedford goes to work

Fairfield10 mi away

11%42

Flora10.5 mi away

11%41

Mount Vernon30.8 mi away

7%26

Cisne1.3 mi away

6%21

Albion21.8 mi away

3%11

Salem30.3 mi away

3%11

Paris85 mi away

2%9

Olney22.9 mi away

2%9

Big Mound14.2 mi away

2%9

Springfield109.7 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%185

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

How far

How far Bedford commutes

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

17%

30%

22%

31%

17%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bedford is a commuter town

0.53jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.53 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Bedford are

196 jobs are based in Bedford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bedford

196 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month37%

Jobs Bedford residents hold

371 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+52%

Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 129 → 196. 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.