Work & commute · Champaign

Work & commute in Champaign, IL

Most working residents leave Champaign for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Champaign (46%), Urbana (16%) and Chicago (4%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

155 of 4,187 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,032 Champaign residents head out of town to work, 155 work right here, and 3,741 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Champaign.

4,032live here, work elsewhere

155live and work here

3,741work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Champaign goes to work

Champaign2.5 mi away

46%1,939

Urbana6.1 mi away

16%674

Chicago125 mi away

4%161

Savoy3.7 mi away

2%94

Springfield73.7 mi away

2%70

Champaign (in town)right here

2%68

Bloomington43.8 mi away

1%60

Peoria82.5 mi away

1%42

Decatur36.8 mi away

1%36

Rantoul16.8 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

24%1,011

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

How far

How far Champaign commutes

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

68%

21%

68%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Champaign is balanced between jobs and homes

0.93jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.93 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Champaign are

3,896 jobs are based in Champaign. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Champaign’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Champaign

3,896 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)41%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)42%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Champaign residents hold

4,187 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−12%

Jobs based in Champaign, 2013 → 2023: 4,419 → 3,896. 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.