Photo: BonkerStonker29 · CC BY-SA 4.0Work means Champaign for about half of Champaign Township’s working residents
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago. Champaign Township grades A for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Champaign Township is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Champaign Township, in brief
Champaign Township trades workers with the towns around it
Champaign Township has about as many jobs (4,019) as working residents (4,121), but they are mostly different people: 3,956 residents leave for work each day while 3,854 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in Champaign Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly half of Champaign Township works in Champaign
1,866 working residents, 45%, have their main job in Champaign, 3.2 miles away across the town line. That’s 11 times as many as work in Champaign Township itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Champaign Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Champaign Township residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Champaign Township makes and builds things
41% of the jobs based in Champaign Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Champaign Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 8%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Champaign Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Champaign Township is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #164 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment is its strongest input (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Champaign Township could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who leaves Champaign Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 3,956 residents head out to work, 165 work right here, and 3,854 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Champaign Township: the destinations
Where Champaign Township clocks in
45% of workers
15% 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.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Champaign Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,494 commuters (the 15% 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 Champaign Township
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
41% of the jobs in Champaign Township make or build things
4,019 jobs are based in Champaign Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Champaign Township, 2014 → 2024: 4,425 → 4,019. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Champaign Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Champaign Township is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Champaign Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #244 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% 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 5,289 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 84% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.3% of Champaign Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Champaign Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Champaign Township comes 563rd on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 561 | River Forest IL | 11,393 | $147K | 2.7% | 8.1% | 5% | A |
| 562 | Kronenwetter WI | 8,413 | $115K | 6.7% | 1.2% | 3% | A |
| 563 | Champaign Township IL | 11,377 | $100K | 5.8% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| 564 | Uxbridge MA | 14,783 | $125K | 3.6% | 4.9% | 9% | A |
| 565 | Mahomet IL | 10,516 | $119K | 3.8% | 3.5% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Champaign Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 47% of Champaign Township’s workers
The biggest share goes to Champaign (45%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Champaign Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champaign Township | – | A | A− | 17 min | $100,063 |
| Champaign | 45% | B | A+ | 15 min | $56,118 |
| Champaign City Township | under 2% | B | A+ | 15 min | $56,118 |
| Savoy | 2% | A− | B | 18 min | $91,966 |
| Scott Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Hensley Township | under 2% | A− | C+ | 13 min | $108,081 |
| Urbana Township | under 2% | B− | A− | 16 min | $62,905 |
| Tolono Township | under 2% | B | C− | 20 min | $90,641 |
Same-state neighbors only. Scott Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Champaign Township’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 2024, 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 Champaign Township: questions
What is the median household income in Champaign Township?
$100,063 (±$15,993) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Champaign Township?
5.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Champaign Township?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Champaign Township work?
4% work in town.
Is Champaign Township walkable?
Champaign Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Champaign Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Champaign Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Champaign Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.