With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Atkinson works elsewhere
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. 136 jobs are based in Atkinson for 386 working residents. Only 2% work in Atkinson itself; outside it, Geneseo draws the most (19%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Atkinson and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Atkinson than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Atkinson fell from 319 in 2013 to 136 in 2023, −57%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Atkinson and Geneseo trade workers both ways
Geneseo is the top workplace for Atkinson residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Atkinson come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Atkinson are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
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 386 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs in Atkinson: what the 136 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atkinson, 2013 → 2023: 319 → 136. 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 Atkinson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Atkinson: the destinations
Where Atkinson clocks in
19% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
How long Atkinson spends getting to work: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atkinson workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 503 commuters (the 5% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Atkinson
On a workday 377 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 127 people come in from elsewhere.
About 670 people are in Atkinson on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Atkinson’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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.
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 Atkinson: questions
What is the median household income in Atkinson?
$57,174 (±$16,109) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atkinson?
5.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atkinson?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atkinson work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Geneseo (19%, 8 mi), Moline (7%, 26 mi), Rock Island (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Atkinson 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 Atkinson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atkinson
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.