Work & commute · Reading

Work & commute in Reading, IL

Most working residents leave Reading for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Streator (24%), Pontiac (7%) and Chicago (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

103 of 790 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 687 Reading residents head out of town to work, 103 work right here, and 1,099 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Reading.

687live here, work elsewhere

103live and work here

1,099work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Reading goes to work

Streator4.9 mi away

24%188

Reading (in town)right here

12%95

Pontiac17.2 mi away

7%56

Chicago81.7 mi away

4%34

Bloomington40.9 mi away

3%23

Peoria44.2 mi away

3%22

Dwight23.9 mi away

1%11

Ottawa20.3 mi away

1%11

Danville92 mi away

1%9

Esmen14.3 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%332

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

How far

How far Reading commutes

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

37%

20%

16%

27%

37%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Reading is a job hub

1.52jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Reading are

1,202 jobs are based in Reading. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Reading’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Reading

1,202 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)66%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)19%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month82%

Jobs Reading residents hold

790 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)46%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−9%

Jobs based in Reading, 2013 → 2023: 1,316 → 1,202. 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.