Photo: Stolehome · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Canton (7.2%) than in 84% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Canton itself; outside it, Peoria draws the most (9%, 26 miles). Canton grades C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Home is the office for 3% of workers; Illinois has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Canton apart
Commutes from Canton are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Canton workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Canton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Canton is Peoria, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (450) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Canton
Job access by car holds Canton’s grade up (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Canton could be anywhere from D to C.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canton workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,741 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Canton
About 28% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 3,189 residents head out to work, 1,608 work right here, and 2,804 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 (0.92 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.
Commuting out of Canton: the destinations
Where Canton clocks in
2% 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 Canton’s employers do
4,412 jobs are based in Canton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canton, 2013 → 2023: 4,607 → 4,412. 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 Canton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Canton is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Canton is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #435 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Canton 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 4,908 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). 6.8% of Canton households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Canton’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000, and where Canton sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Riverside Township IL | 16,083 | $122K | 4.5% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,289 | Rock Island Township IL | 15,632 | $41K | 32.9% | 7.4% | 12% | C− |
| 2,290 | Troy Township IN | 11,919 | $56K | 19.8% | 4.9% | 33% | C− |
| 2,291 | Canton IL | 13,297 | $53K | 15.2% | 7.2% | 34% | C− |
| 2,292 | Grandview WA | 12,062 | $61K | 17.9% | 6.7% | 16% | C− |
| 2,293 | Española NM | 10,458 | $48K | 20.4% | 4.4% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Canton, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Canton and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | – | C− | B | 21 min | $53,254 |
| Canton Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Buckheart Township | under 2% | C− | C | 26 min | $61,161 |
Same-state neighbors only. Canton Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canton’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 Canton: questions
What is the median household income in Canton?
$53,254 (±$6,983) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canton?
15.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canton?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canton work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peoria (9%, 26 mi), Pekin (3%, 22 mi), Chicago (2%, 151 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Canton walkable?
Canton is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canton without a car?
<1% 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 Canton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canton
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.