Work & commute · Forrest

Work & commute in Forrest, IL

Most working residents leave Forrest for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Forrest (11%), Fairbury (9%) and Pontiac (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

92 of 683 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 591 Forrest residents head out of town to work, 92 work right here, and 608 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Forrest.

591live here, work elsewhere

92live and work here

608work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Forrest goes to work

Forrest1.9 mi away

11%73

Fairbury5.3 mi away

9%61

Pontiac16.3 mi away

6%44

Bloomington33.6 mi away

4%27

Chicago85.8 mi away

3%21

Gibson City17.9 mi away

3%19

Forrest (in town)right here

3%19

Normal33.2 mi away

3%18

Fayette6 mi away

3%18

Champaign42.8 mi away

2%17

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%366

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

How far

How far Forrest commutes

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

35%

19%

21%

26%

35%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Forrest is balanced between jobs and homes

1.02jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Forrest are

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

Jobs based in Forrest

700 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)49%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)31%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Forrest residents hold

683 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+11%

Jobs based in Forrest, 2013 → 2023: 630 → 700. 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.