Photo: RSchulenburg · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Belvidere (7.0%) is higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C: better than 34% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #603 of 768 in Illinois.
Walkability B: more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns · #507 of 768 in Illinois.
Household incomes here are lower than in 67% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 24 minutes each way (Illinois 28, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Belvidere; the top destination outside it is Rockford (20%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Belvidere
Belvidere trades workers with the towns around it
Belvidere has about as many jobs (9,437) as working residents (9,644), but they are mostly different people: 7,961 residents leave for work each day while 7,754 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Belvidere are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Belvidere and Rockford trade workers both ways
Rockford is the top workplace for Belvidere residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Belvidere come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Belvidere makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Belvidere are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Belvidere residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Belvidere than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Belvidere fell from 13,171 in 2013 to 9,437 in 2023, −28%. 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 ↓
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.
What’s behind Belvidere’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Belvidere is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #603 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Belvidere’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Belvidere could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 7,961 residents head out to work, 1,683 work right here, and 7,754 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.98 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Rockford
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Belvidere clocks in
20% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Belvidere makes things: 45% of its jobs are in goods
9,437 jobs are based in Belvidere. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Belvidere’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belvidere, 2013 → 2023: 13,171 → 9,437. 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.
About 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belvidere workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,189 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Belvidere commutes less than 15 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 23% 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.
Most trips from Belvidere start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Belvidere is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #507 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of 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 12,119 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). 7.0% of Belvidere households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Belvidere’s commuters take a bus or train.
Belvidere is 1,240th of 1,516 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Belvidere, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,238 | Olivehurst CA | 18,444 | $83K | 10.6% | 7.8% | 4% | C |
| 1,239 | West Little River FL | 33,890 | $56K | 17.7% | 6.9% | 2% | C |
| 1,240 | Belvidere IL | 25,462 | $65K | 14.6% | 7.0% | 17% | C |
| 1,241 | Killingly CT | 18,177 | $84K | 11.4% | 10.3% | 23% | C |
| 1,242 | Sevierville TN | 19,010 | $52K | 15.4% | 4.4% | 27% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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.
Belvidere and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Belvidere’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Belvidere workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belvidere | – | C | B | 24 min | $64,528 |
| Cherry Valley | under 2% | B | B− | 24 min | $74,655 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Belvidere: questions
What is the median household income in Belvidere?
$64,528 (±$8,521) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belvidere?
14.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belvidere?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Belvidere work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockford (20%, 9 mi), Chicago (5%, 68 mi), Loves Park (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Belvidere walkable?
Belvidere is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belvidere without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Belvidere, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belvidere
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.