TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
NorthernGood night
Work & commute · Northern

Work & commute in Northern, IL

Most working residents leave Northern for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Marion (11%), Benton (9%) and Mount Vernon (9%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
1%
1 of 180 working residents
Typical commute
23 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
31 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
23%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 179 Northern residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 105 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Northern.

179live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
105work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Northern goes to work

SesserThompsonvilleGalatiaJohnston CityWest FrankfortBentonHarrisburgMarionCarbondaleMount VernonSpringfieldMoores PrairieSpring GardenBentonCaveEwingKnight PrairieEasternNorthernFrankfortMarionBentonMount VernonEasternCarbondaleThompsonvilleWest FrankfortSpringfieldBentonCaveNorthern
1
Marion25.5 mi away
11%19
2
Benton9.4 mi away
9%17
3
Mount Vernon18.5 mi away
9%17
4
Eastern5.8 mi away
7%12
5
Carbondale35 mi away
5%9
6
Thompsonville11.4 mi away
3%6
7
West Frankfort15.2 mi away
3%5
8
Springfield127.6 mi away
2%4
9
Benton7.9 mi away
2%4
10
Cave11.4 mi away
2%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
46%83

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

How far

How far Northern commutes

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

14%Under 10 mi
41%10–24 mi
25%25–50 mi
20%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Northern is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident
A commuter town

0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Northern are

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

Jobs based in Northern

106 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)82%
Trade, transport & utilities15%
Services (health, schools, offices…)3%
$1,250 a month or less10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month19%
Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Northern residents hold

180 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)23%
Trade, transport & utilities19%
Services (health, schools, offices…)57%
$1,250 a month or less21%
$1,251–$3,333 a month26%
Over $3,333 a month53%
+172%

Jobs based in Northern, 2013 → 2023: 39 → 106. 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.

We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Northern, ILFranklin CountyView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Northern is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map