Bluford has 0.0 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For 3% of workers, the job is at home; Illinois has 16%. 12 jobs are based in Bluford, against 250 working residents. Hardly any stay in Bluford for work; outside it, Mount Vernon is the main destination (36%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bluford stands out on work
Bluford is a place people come home to
There are 12 jobs based in Bluford, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bluford has about 370 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
36% of Bluford works in Mount Vernon
89 working residents, 36%, have their main job in Mount Vernon, 9.9 miles away. That’s far more as work in Bluford itself. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 250 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Bluford on a workday afternoon
On a workday 249 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 11 people come in from elsewhere.
About 370 people are in Bluford on a workday afternoon, 39% 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.
Out of Bluford to work: where people go
Where Bluford clocks in
36% of workers
4% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Bluford
About 31% 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 Bluford’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bluford, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 12. 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 Bluford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Bluford: about 32 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bluford workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 235 commuters (the 3% 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.
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 Bluford: questions
What is the median household income in Bluford?
$51,583 (±$13,262) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bluford?
13.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bluford?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bluford work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Vernon (36%, 10 mi), Centralia (4%, 25 mi), Webber Township (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bluford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bluford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bluford
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.