Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWith 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Flanagan works elsewhere
Only 3% stay in Flanagan for work; outside it, Pontiac is the main destination (13%, 11 miles). There are 178 jobs in Flanagan, against 395 working residents. Flanagan grades C− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Flanagan
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 ↓
Commutes from Flanagan 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. 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 395 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Flanagan: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Flanagan is better than 21% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Flanagan’s grade.
Unemployment (2.6%) is left out: Flanagan’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Flanagan could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where in the region Flanagan 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Flanagan’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Flanagan workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 329 commuters (the 18% 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 daily commute in and out of Flanagan
On a workday 384 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 167 people come in from elsewhere.
About 810 people are in Flanagan on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
The places Flanagan commutes to
Where Flanagan clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Flanagan
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Flanagan, 2013 → 2023: 247 → 178. 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 Flanagan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Flanagan walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Flanagan is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 403 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). 1.0% of Flanagan households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Flanagan’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Flanagan is 2,071st of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| 20 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,069 | Montville ME | 1,025 | $66K | 10.7% | 3.3% | 2% | C− |
| 2,070 | Manchester WI | 1,088 | $78K | 18.6% | 3.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,071 | Flanagan IL | 1,022 | $62K | 12.8% | 2.6% | 3% | C− |
| 2,072 | Island City OR | 1,142 | $67K | 14.0% | 7.0% | 5% | C− |
| 2,073 | Natalia TX | 1,373 | $46K | 24.1% | 3.0% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Flanagan, 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 Flanagan: questions
What is the median household income in Flanagan?
$62,083 (±$22,229) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Flanagan?
12.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Flanagan?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Flanagan work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pontiac (13%, 11 mi), Bloomington (8%, 28 mi), Normal (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Flanagan walkable?
Flanagan is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Flanagan without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Flanagan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Flanagan
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.