Work & commute · South Ottawa

Work & commute in South Ottawa, IL

Most working residents leave South Ottawa for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Ottawa (28%), Chicago (4%) and Peru (3%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

173 of 3,876 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 3,703 South Ottawa residents head out of town to work, 173 work right here, and 754 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Ottawa.

3,703live here, work elsewhere

173live and work here

754work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Ottawa goes to work

Ottawa3.6 mi away

28%1,088

Chicago70.8 mi away

4%159

Peru15 mi away

3%132

Peoria55.2 mi away

3%104

LaSalle12.6 mi away

3%100

Morris23 mi away

3%97

Streator12.8 mi away

2%80

Dayton8.2 mi away

2%80

North Utica9 mi away

1%55

Sheridan17.8 mi away

1%48

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%1,933

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

How far

How far South Ottawa commutes

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

38%

18%

14%

30%

38%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Ottawa is a commuter town

0.24jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Ottawa are

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

Jobs based in South Ottawa

927 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs South Ottawa residents hold

3,876 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+61%

Jobs based in South Ottawa, 2013 → 2023: 575 → 927. 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.