Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDanville has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Danville for work; outside it, Danville Township is the main destination (5%, 3 miles). Below the poverty line: 24.5% of residents (Illinois 11.8%). Jobs and income earn Danville D; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Danville apart on work
Commutes from Danville are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Danville’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Danville is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #749 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Danville’s grade up (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($45,957, U.S. $80,734).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Danville stays D.
From Danville, about 14 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Danville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,480 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where in the region Danville works
About 35% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Danville
On a workday 6,547 residents head out to work, 4,301 work right here, and 11,042 people come in from elsewhere.
About 33,000 people are in Danville on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 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 the trip to work from Danville ends
Where Danville clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Danville
15,343 jobs are based in Danville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Danville, 2013 → 2023: 17,615 → 15,343. 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 Danville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Danville, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Danville is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #353 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Danville 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 10,412 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). 15.4% of Danville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Danville’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000, and where Danville sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Geneva IL | 21,138 | $144K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | New Lenox IL | 28,893 | $141K | 1.5% | 2.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,393 | Yucca Valley CA | 21,887 | $60K | 15.7% | 6.6% | 15% | D |
| 1,394 | Marion IN | 28,234 | $43K | 29.6% | 7.7% | 43% | D |
| 1,395 | Danville IL | 28,138 | $46K | 24.5% | 8.3% | 40% | D |
| 1,396 | Marion OH | 35,587 | $48K | 22.4% | 9.4% | 17% | D |
| 1,397 | Greenwood SC | 22,745 | $41K | 21.6% | 8.7% | 28% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Danville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Danville and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Danville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danville | – | D | B+ | 14 min | $45,957 |
| Tilton | 2% | C− | C+ | 16 min | $55,697 |
| Blount Township | under 2% | A | D− | 19 min | $110,451 |
| Newell Township | under 2% | C− | C | 16 min | $61,458 |
| Danville Township | 5% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Danville Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Danville Township. Darker towns draw more of Danville’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 Danville: questions
What is the median household income in Danville?
$45,957 (±$3,620) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Danville?
24.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Danville?
14 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Danville work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danville Township (5%, 3 mi), Champaign (4%, 35 mi), Chicago (4%, 117 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Danville walkable?
Danville is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Danville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Danville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Danville
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.