Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWork, pay and getting to work in Brussels
Only 4% stay in Brussels for work; outside it, Hardin is the main destination (8%, 15 miles). 5% of workers have no commute at all; Illinois has 16%. The trip to work takes 39 minutes on average (Illinois 28, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Brussels, and who commutes in
On a workday 72 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 58 people come in from elsewhere.
About 97 people are in Brussels on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 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.
Where people from Brussels work
Where Brussels clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
What work there is in Brussels: 61 jobs
61 jobs are based in Brussels.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brussels, 2013 → 2023: 104 → 61. 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 Brussels’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Brussels: about 39 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brussels workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 83 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.
How far Brussels’ 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.
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 Brussels: questions
What is the median household income in Brussels?
$55,875 (±$10,418) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brussels?
44.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brussels?
39 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brussels work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hardin (8%, 15 mi), Jerseyville (5%, 18 mi), St. Louis (5%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Brussels 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 Brussels, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brussels
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.