Work & commute · Wood River

Work & commute in Wood River, IL

Most working residents leave Wood River for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Edwardsville (10%), Alton (9%) and St. Louis (7%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

2,206 of 12,911 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,705 Wood River residents head out of town to work, 2,206 work right here, and 8,935 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wood River.

10,705live here, work elsewhere

2,206live and work here

8,935work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wood River goes to work

Edwardsville7.4 mi away

10%1,297

Alton4.4 mi away

9%1,164

St. Louis, MO18.5 mi away

7%853

Wood River0.5 mi away

6%789

East Alton1.8 mi away

5%661

Bethalto2.8 mi away

4%502

Granite City10.1 mi away

4%455

Roxana3.9 mi away

2%312

Godfrey9.5 mi away

2%272

Chicago240.6 mi away

2%263

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%6,343

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

How far

How far Wood River commutes

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

45%

32%

15%

45%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wood River is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wood River are

11,141 jobs are based in Wood River. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wood River’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wood River

11,141 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)38%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Wood River residents hold

12,911 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month55%

−3%

Jobs based in Wood River, 2013 → 2023: 11,544 → 11,141. 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.