Transfer House · Photo: Ander107 · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Decatur (8.3%) is higher than in 89% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Decatur is behind 86% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Decatur is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+). More than half work in Decatur; the top destination outside it is Springfield (5%, 38 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Decatur
The figures behind Decatur’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Decatur’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Decatur could be anywhere from D to C−.
About 18 minutes each way for Decatur’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Decatur workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,244 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 Decatur: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 12,348 residents head out to work, 13,696 work right here, and 21,036 people come in from elsewhere.
About 77,000 people are in Decatur on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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 Decatur ends
Where Decatur clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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.
In Decatur, 31% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
34,732 jobs are based in Decatur.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Decatur, 2013 → 2023: 35,017 → 34,732. 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 Decatur’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Decatur goes to work
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.
Decatur is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 28,649 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). 12.1% of Decatur households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Decatur’s commuters take a bus or train.
Decatur and other U.S. towns of 48,000 to 92,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | New Trier Township IL | 56,118 | $216K | 2.9% | 4.0% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Vernon Township IL | 71,353 | $146K | 6.3% | 2.4% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Plainfield IL | 50,043 | $144K | 4.2% | 3.8% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 625 | Anderson IN | 56,153 | $47K | 21.0% | 7.3% | 28% | C− |
| 626 | Jackson TN | 69,339 | $53K | 22.2% | 8.1% | 60% | C− |
| 627 | Decatur IL | 67,884 | $52K | 19.4% | 8.3% | 53% | C− |
| 628 | Utica NY | 62,978 | $52K | 27.5% | 8.2% | 34% | C− |
| 629 | Valdosta GA | 56,186 | $46K | 26.1% | 5.7% | 51% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 645 | 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 Decatur, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns around Decatur
The biggest share goes to Forsyth (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Decatur workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur | – | C− | B+ | 18 min | $51,592 |
| Forsyth | 2% | B | B | 18 min | $112,000 |
| Mount Zion | 1% | A− | C− | 22 min | $103,365 |
| Oakley Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Whitmore Township | under 2% | C | C− | 20 min | $76,607 |
| Harristown | under 2% | B− | D | 22 min | $72,426 |
| Decatur Township | under 2% | D | A− | 17 min | $48,870 |
| South Wheatland Township | under 2% | A− | D | 21 min | $94,427 |
| Long Creek | under 2% | B | B | 19 min | $78,519 |
| Long Creek Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 20 min | $85,279 |
Same-state neighbors only. Oakley Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Decatur’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 Decatur: questions
What is the median household income in Decatur?
$51,592 (±$2,061) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Decatur?
19.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Decatur?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Decatur work?
53% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (5%, 38 mi), Chicago (3%, 152 mi), Forsyth (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Decatur walkable?
Decatur is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Decatur without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Decatur, from the people who make the trip.
More of Decatur
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.