Work & commute · Lafayette

Work & commute in Lafayette, IL

Most working residents leave Lafayette for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Mattoon (30%), Charleston (9%) and Effingham (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

223 of 1,939 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 1,716 Lafayette residents head out of town to work, 223 work right here, and 4,414 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lafayette.

1,716live here, work elsewhere

223live and work here

4,414work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lafayette goes to work

Mattoon3.7 mi away

30%575

Charleston6.1 mi away

9%184

Lafayette (in town)right here

7%132

Effingham28.3 mi away

5%92

Champaign44 mi away

3%62

Mattoon6.6 mi away

3%55

Urbana44 mi away

2%42

Arthur18.9 mi away

2%36

Arcola14.2 mi away

2%33

Sullivan18.7 mi away

2%33

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%695

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

How far

How far Lafayette commutes

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

49%

13%

16%

21%

49%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lafayette is a job hub

2.39jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Lafayette are

4,637 jobs are based in Lafayette. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lafayette’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lafayette

4,637 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Lafayette residents hold

1,939 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+59%

Jobs based in Lafayette, 2013 → 2023: 2,919 → 4,637. 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.