Photo: Sea Cow · CC BY-SA 4.0At 5.8%, unemployment in Aurora is higher than in 72% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago. The two grades for Aurora are B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in seven stay in Aurora for work; outside it, Chicago is the main destination (13%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Aurora, in a few figures
What’s behind Aurora’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Aurora is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #365 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Aurora’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Aurora could be anywhere from B to B+.
How far it is to work from Aurora
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.
Aurora quiets down on a workday
On a workday 67,079 residents head out to work, 13,168 work right here, and 46,781 people come in from elsewhere.
About 161,000 people are in Aurora on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.75 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.
Where people from Aurora work
Where Aurora clocks in
13% of workers
9% 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 59,949 jobs based in Aurora
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aurora, 2013 → 2023: 57,298 → 59,949. 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 Aurora’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Aurora spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aurora workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 78,579 commuters (the 16% 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.
In Aurora, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Aurora is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #156 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Aurora near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 93,709 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.3% of Aurora households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Aurora’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Aurora is 58th of 162 U.S. towns of 127,000 to 245,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Naperville IL | 153,114 | $155K | 4.4% | 4.5% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Downers Grove Township IL | 149,599 | $117K | 6.2% | 4.3% | 14% | A |
| 17 | Schaumburg Township IL | 131,411 | $99K | 6.7% | 3.4% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Midland TX | 147,615 | $90K | 12.4% | 3.5% | 52% | B+ |
| 57 | Pasadena CA | 135,804 | $105K | 13.3% | 5.6% | 20% | B+ |
| 58 | Aurora IL | 181,505 | $94K | 9.5% | 5.8% | 16% | B+ |
| 59 | Murfreesboro TN | 171,178 | $80K | 8.8% | 4.3% | 28% | B+ |
| 60 | Fontana CA | 221,223 | $103K | 9.9% | 6.5% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Aurora, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns next door employ 12% of Aurora
The biggest share goes to Naperville (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Aurora workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | – | B+ | A | 27 min | $93,633 |
| Montgomery | under 2% | A− | C+ | 33 min | $103,734 |
| North Aurora | under 2% | A− | B+ | 27 min | $114,305 |
| Naperville | 9% | A | A | 31 min | $155,105 |
| Warrenville | under 2% | A− | A− | 27 min | $100,321 |
| Sugar Grove | under 2% | A− | C+ | 29 min | $121,207 |
| Batavia | 3% | A | A | 29 min | $120,056 |
| Oswego | under 2% | A+ | B | 32 min | $123,792 |
| Naperville Township | under 2% | A− | A | 31 min | $120,026 |
| Winfield Township | under 2% | B | A− | 27 min | $103,183 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Aurora’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Aurora: questions
What is the median household income in Aurora?
$93,633 (±$4,235) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aurora?
9.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aurora?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aurora work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (13%, 32 mi), Naperville (9%, 7 mi), Batavia (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aurora walkable?
Aurora is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aurora without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Aurora, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aurora
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.