Work & commute · Fairbury

Work & commute in Fairbury, IL

Most working residents leave Fairbury for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Pontiac (11%), Bloomington (7%) and Normal (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

308 of 1,726 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 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 1,418 Fairbury residents head out of town to work, 308 work right here, and 1,126 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fairbury.

1,418live here, work elsewhere

308live and work here

1,126work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fairbury goes to work

Fairbury (in town)right here

18%308

Pontiac11.9 mi away

11%197

Bloomington30.3 mi away

7%119

Normal29.5 mi away

4%73

Forrest5.6 mi away

4%69

Chicago86.8 mi away

3%56

Eppards Point8.2 mi away

3%51

Gibson City20.6 mi away

2%37

Indian Grove2.6 mi away

2%35

Chatsworth11.4 mi away

2%33

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%748

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

How far

How far Fairbury commutes

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

30%

24%

20%

26%

30%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fairbury is balanced between jobs and homes

0.83jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Fairbury are

1,434 jobs are based in Fairbury. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fairbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fairbury

1,434 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)46%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Fairbury residents hold

1,726 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month55%

−3%

Jobs based in Fairbury, 2013 → 2023: 1,482 → 1,434. 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.