Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWork means Springfield for about half of Athens’ working residents
For 10% of workers, the job is at home, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole. Jobs and income earn Athens C+; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 4% work in Athens itself; outside it, Springfield draws the most (46%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Athens and work: the main findings
Nearly half of Athens works in Springfield
421 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Springfield, 13 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Athens itself. The commute map ↓
Athens is a place people come home to
There are 204 jobs based in Athens, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Athens has about 1,200 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 906 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Athens’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Athens is better than 45% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Athens’ grade up ($81,192, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Athens could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Commuting out of Athens: the destinations
Where Athens clocks in
46% of workers
4% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The workday shuffle in and out of Athens
On a workday 866 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 164 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Athens on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.23 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Athens is a services town
204 jobs are based in Athens.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 145 → 204. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Athens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Athens: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,005 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where in the region Athens works
About 22% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Athens, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,112 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.2% of Athens households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Athens’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500, Athens ranks 2,506th of 5,656 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,504 | Freedom NY | 2,196 | $74K | 7.0% | 3.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,505 | Center Township OH | 1,728 | $76K | 7.7% | 14.5% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,506 | Athens IL | 1,883 | $81K | 9.5% | 5.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,507 | Chouteau OK | 2,175 | $60K | 8.3% | 8.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,508 | Blawnox PA | 1,384 | $60K | 16.7% | 2.5% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Athens, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Athens: questions
What is the median household income in Athens?
$81,192 (±$10,041) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Athens?
9.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Athens?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Athens work?
4% work in town.
Is Athens walkable?
Athens is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Athens without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Athens
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.