Photo: BonkerStonker29 · CC BY-SA 4.030% of Champaign’s residents are college students
About two in five stay in Champaign for work; outside it, Urbana is the main destination (15%, 4 miles). Jobs and income earn Champaign B; getting around on foot earns it A+. The average commute takes 15 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Champaign, in brief
Commutes from Champaign are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Champaign is where the jobs are
Champaign has 45,898 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Champaign and Urbana trade workers both ways
Urbana is the top workplace for Champaign residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Champaign come from (10% of its jobs). 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.
Where Champaign’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On family income, poverty and job access, Champaign is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #466 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Champaign’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.4%, U.S. 11.9%). It also does well on family income.
Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (24% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 13.4%, against 25.9% for all residents. Unemployment (4.8%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($95,576), since student households pull the household median down ($56,118).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Champaign could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
How long Champaign spends getting to work: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Champaign workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 35,490 commuters (the 17% 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.
Who commutes out of Champaign, and who commutes in
On a workday 16,491 residents head out to work, 13,301 work right here, and 32,597 people come in from elsewhere.
About 107,000 people are in Champaign on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 Champaign’s workers come from
Where Champaign clocks in
15% of workers
4% of workers
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.
Inside Champaign’s 45,898 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Champaign, 2013 → 2023: 45,264 → 45,898. 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 Champaign’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Champaign
About 24% 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.
Champaign is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Champaign is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #10 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Champaign 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 42,924 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, 89% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 17.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 16.7% of Champaign households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Champaign’s commuters take a bus or train.
Champaign places 299th of 491 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 64,000 to 123,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Vernon Township IL | 71,353 | $146K | 6.3% | 2.4% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Wheatland Township IL | 92,693 | $173K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Arlington Heights IL | 76,216 | $117K | 6.0% | 3.5% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 297 | Pittsburg CA | 77,542 | $100K | 11.2% | 7.6% | 9% | B |
| 298 | Miami Beach FL | 81,594 | $73K | 14.4% | 4.6% | 24% | B |
| 299 | Champaign IL | 91,195 | $56K | 25.9% | 4.8% | 45% | B |
| 300 | Champaign City Township IL | 91,195 | $56K | 25.9% | 4.8% | 45% | B |
| 301 | Rapid City SD | 80,589 | $71K | 12.5% | 2.6% | 75% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 491 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bordering towns draw 18% of Champaign’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Champaign workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champaign | – | B | A+ | 15 min | $56,118 |
| Champaign City Township | under 1% | B | A+ | 15 min | $56,118 |
| Champaign Township | 2% | A | A− | 17 min | $100,063 |
| Hensley Township | under 1% | A− | C+ | 13 min | $108,081 |
| Urbana | 15% | C+ | A+ | 14 min | $45,346 |
| Cunningham Township | under 1% | C+ | A+ | 14 min | $45,346 |
| Urbana Township | under 1% | B− | A− | 16 min | $62,905 |
| Somer Township | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Savoy | 1% | A− | B | 18 min | $91,966 |
Same-state neighbors only. Somer Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Urbana. Darker towns draw more of Champaign’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.
- Students. 30% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- 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: questions
What is the median household income in Champaign?
$56,118 (±$3,560) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Champaign?
25.9% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 13.4%. Illinois: 11.8%.
How long is the commute from Champaign?
15 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Champaign work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urbana (15%, 4 mi), Chicago (4%, 123 mi), Champaign Township (2%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Champaign walkable?
Champaign is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Champaign without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. 89% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Champaign, from the people who make the trip.
More of Champaign
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.