Photo: Asteve77767 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Breese have higher incomes than those in 62% of U.S. towns
4.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Illinois as a whole has 11.8%. The two grades for Breese are B+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in five work in Breese itself; outside it, Highland draws the most (5%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Breese, in a few figures
Breese trades workers with the towns around it
Breese has about as many jobs (2,348) as working residents (2,196), but they are mostly different people: 1,753 residents leave for work each day while 1,905 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Breese are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Breese’s commute
The biggest draw, Highland, gets only 5% of working residents, and 50% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Breese residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Breese
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Breese is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #335 of 768 in Illinois. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Breese could be anywhere from C+ to A.
A workday in Breese: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,753 residents head out to work, 443 work right here, and 1,905 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 (1.07 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.
The places Breese commutes to
Where Breese clocks in
5% 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.
What Breese’s employers do
2,348 jobs are based in Breese.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Breese, 2013 → 2023: 2,552 → 2,348. 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 Breese’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Breese takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Breese workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,948 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.
How far Breese’s workers travel
About 15% 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.
In Breese, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Breese is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #591 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 2,327 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). 5.3% of Breese households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Breese’s commuters take a bus or train.
Breese is 1,193rd of 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,191 | Manor PA | 3,482 | $139K | 4.9% | 11.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,192 | Carlyle Township IL | 3,778 | $88K | 6.6% | 2.1% | 17% | B+ |
| 1,193 | Breese IL | 4,602 | $85K | 4.2% | 3.8% | 20% | B+ |
| 1,194 | Flemington NJ | 4,856 | $70K | 11.8% | 1.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,195 | West Salem WI | 5,288 | $97K | 8.6% | 3.3% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Breese, 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 Breese: questions
What is the median household income in Breese?
$85,222 (±$24,961) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Breese?
4.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Breese?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Breese work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Highland (5%, 14 mi), Belleville (5%, 26 mi), St. Louis (4%, 39 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Breese walkable?
Breese is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Breese without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Breese, from the people who make the trip.
More of Breese
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.