Work & commute · Wood River

Work & commute in Wood River, IL

Most working residents leave Wood River for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Edwardsville (10%), Alton (8%) and St. Louis (7%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

317 of 4,639 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 4,322 Wood River residents head out of town to work, 317 work right here, and 2,942 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wood River.

4,322live here, work elsewhere

317live and work here

2,942work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wood River goes to work

Edwardsville7 mi away

10%481

Alton4.8 mi away

8%370

St. Louis, MO18.2 mi away

7%345

Wood River (in town)right here

7%317

East Alton2.2 mi away

4%195

Granite City9.7 mi away

4%189

Bethalto3.1 mi away

3%118

Roxana3.4 mi away

2%105

Godfrey9.9 mi away

2%100

Belleville24.5 mi away

2%98

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%2,321

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%

34%

15%

45%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wood River is a commuter town

0.70jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Wood River are

3,259 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

3,259 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities39%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs Wood River residents hold

4,639 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 month32%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−2%

Jobs based in Wood River, 2013 → 2023: 3,335 → 3,259. 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.