Households in Cuba earn less than those in 95% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 22.7% of residents, next to 11.8% across Illinois. The two grades for Cuba are D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Cuba itself; outside it, Canton draws the most (19%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Cuba: the figures worth knowing
Cuba and Canton trade workers both ways
Canton is the top workplace for Cuba residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Cuba come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Cuba workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 465 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Cuba’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Cuba is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cuba’s grade.
Unemployment (4.6%) is left out: Cuba’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cuba could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where Cuba’s working residents head each day
Where Cuba clocks in
19% 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.
Cuba’s commute takes about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cuba workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 373 commuters (the 8% 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.
A workday in Cuba: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 424 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 153 people come in from elsewhere.
About 860 people are in Cuba on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.42 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
What Cuba’s employers do
194 jobs are based in Cuba.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cuba, 2013 → 2023: 197 → 194. 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 Cuba’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Cuba commutes
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.
For most of Cuba, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cuba is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 407 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). 3.9% of Cuba households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cuba’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cuba next to U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,550 | Elcho WI | 1,193 | $50K | 19.3% | 2.1% | 9% | D− |
| 3,551 | Phil Campbell AL | 1,004 | $43K | 22.9% | 1.8% | 3% | D− |
| 3,552 | Cuba IL | 1,131 | $42K | 22.7% | 4.6% | 9% | D− |
| 3,553 | Estancia NM | 1,321 | $54K | 22.6% | 39.2% | 11% | D− |
| 3,554 | Corrigan TX | 1,358 | $38K | 30.6% | 16.7% | 19% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Cuba, 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 Cuba: questions
What is the median household income in Cuba?
$42,375 (±$9,636) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cuba?
22.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cuba?
35 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cuba work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Canton (19%, 10 mi), Peoria (10%, 35 mi), Lewistown (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cuba walkable?
Cuba is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cuba 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 Cuba, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cuba
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.