With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Fairmont works elsewhere
Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, where Illinois as a whole has 16%. 120 jobs are based in Fairmont; 1,183 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Fairmont is better than 43% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fairmont at work: what stands out
Fairmont is a place people come home to
There are 120 jobs based in Fairmont, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Fairmont has about 1,600 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fairmont’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fairmont is Chicago, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (243) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Fairmont workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Fairmont are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker, and quicker than any town next door (26 to 35 minutes). 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Fairmont
Job access by car holds Fairmont’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.1%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairmont could be anywhere from C− to A−.
How many people are in Fairmont by day
On a workday 1,175 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 112 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Fairmont on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How many miles Fairmont commutes
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.
Fairmont’s commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairmont workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,149 commuters (the 4% 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.
21% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Fairmont clocks in
21% of workers
9% 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.
What Fairmont’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairmont, 2013 → 2023: 148 → 120. 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 Fairmont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Fairmont: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% 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 1,193 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, 76% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 5.6% of Fairmont households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairmont’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fairmont next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500: 2,691st of 5,083 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,689 | Fritz Creek AK | 2,383 | $90K | 7.9% | 4.2% | — | C+ |
| 2,690 | Sutter CA | 2,532 | $96K | 6.8% | 7.7% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,691 | Fairmont IL | 2,617 | $71K | 15.6% | 7.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,692 | Desert Aire WA | 2,788 | $86K | 7.8% | 4.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,693 | Castle Rock WA | 2,442 | $70K | 7.0% | 7.6% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Fairmont, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 13% of Fairmont’s workers
The biggest share goes to Joliet (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairmont workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairmont | – | C+ | B | 23 min | $70,795 |
| Lockport | 4% | A− | A− | 35 min | $111,981 |
| Joliet Township | under 2% | C+ | A− | 26 min | $63,998 |
| Joliet | 9% | B | B+ | 29 min | $92,201 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairmont’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 Fairmont: questions
What is the median household income in Fairmont?
$70,795 (±$25,867) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairmont?
15.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairmont?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairmont work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (21%, 27 mi), Joliet (9%, 6 mi), Romeoville (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairmont walkable?
Fairmont is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 11.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairmont without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 76% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairmont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairmont
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.