Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0At 9.9%, unemployment in Farmington is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Farmington; the top destination outside it is Peoria (20%, 20 miles). The two grades for Farmington are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For 2% of workers, the job is at home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Farmington apart on work
Few Farmington workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Farmington has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Farmington went from 532 in 2014 to 740 in 2024, +39%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 969 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Farmington gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Farmington is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Farmington’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Farmington could be anywhere from D to B.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Farmington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Farmington workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 935 commuters (the 2% 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.
The 740 jobs based in Farmington
740 jobs are based in Farmington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Farmington, 2014 → 2024: 532 → 740. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Farmington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Farmington
On a workday 844 residents head out to work, 125 work right here, and 615 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Farmington on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Farmington to work: where people go
Where Farmington clocks in
8% 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.
Where in the region Farmington works
About 26% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Farmington is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Farmington is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 950 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). 4.5% of Farmington households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Farmington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, Farmington ranks 3,638th of 5,328 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,636 | Willow AK | 1,815 | $89K | 13.2% | 6.6% | — | C |
| 3,637 | Corning AR | 3,065 | $50K | 14.8% | 2.1% | 25% | C |
| 3,638 | Farmington IL | 2,298 | $65K | 11.0% | 9.9% | 13% | C |
| 3,639 | Eddyville KY | 2,306 | $56K | 8.9% | 2.8% | 13% | C |
| 3,640 | Mecosta Township MI | 2,891 | $61K | 19.1% | 2.8% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Farmington, 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 2024, 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 Farmington: questions
What is the median household income in Farmington?
$65,223 (±$5,191) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Farmington?
11.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Farmington?
25 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Farmington work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peoria (20%, 20 mi), Canton (8%, 9 mi), Farmington Township (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Farmington walkable?
Farmington is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Farmington 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 Farmington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Farmington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.