Work & commute · Cairo

Work & commute in Cairo, IL

Most working residents leave Cairo for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Cape Girardeau (6%), Carbondale (3%) and Paducah (3%). Half commute less than 31 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

114 of 586 working residents

Typical commute

31 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

37 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 472 Cairo residents head out of town to work, 114 work right here, and 385 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cairo.

472live here, work elsewhere

114live and work here

385work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cairo goes to work

Cairo (in town)right here

19%114

Cape Girardeau, MO29.4 mi away

6%35

Carbondale49.5 mi away

3%17

Paducah, KY30 mi away

3%17

Sikeston, MO23.9 mi away

2%14

Chicago343.2 mi away

2%12

Evansville, IN113 mi away

2%11

Springfield194 mi away

2%10

Charleston, MO10.4 mi away

2%10

Chester72.7 mi away

2%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%337

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

How far

How far Cairo commutes

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

27%

21%

43%

27%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

43%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cairo is balanced between jobs and homes

0.85jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cairo are

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

Jobs based in Cairo

499 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities35%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Cairo residents hold

586 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month43%

Over $3,333 a month36%

−46%

Jobs based in Cairo, 2013 → 2023: 927 → 499. 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.