Alfred Phillips House · Photo: Andrita2 at English Wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Gibson City are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Gibson City; the top destination outside it is Champaign (7%, 25 miles). 14.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.8% across Illinois. Jobs and income earn Gibson City D; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Gibson City stands out on work
Commutes from Gibson City are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Gibson City has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Gibson City went from 1,441 in 2014 to 2,667 in 2024, +85%. The jobs ↓
Gibson City is where the jobs are
Gibson City has 2,667 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Gibson City
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gibson City is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #746 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Gibson City’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($42,955, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gibson City could be anywhere from D to C+.
From Gibson City, about 13 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gibson City workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,401 commuters (the 10% 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.
What Gibson City’s employers do
2,667 jobs are based in Gibson City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gibson City, 2014 → 2024: 1,441 → 2,667. 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 Gibson City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Gibson City by day
On a workday 1,126 residents head out to work, 621 work right here, and 2,046 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Gibson City on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Gibson City, and from where
Where Gibson City clocks in
7% of workers
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.
How far Gibson City’s workers travel
About 25% 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.
Driving is how Gibson City gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gibson City is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #610 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% 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 1,554 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). 19.0% of Gibson City households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gibson City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gibson City places 3,925th of 4,402 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,923 | Apalachicola FL | 2,473 | $52K | 15.7% | 5.0% | 30% | D |
| 3,924 | Christopher IL | 2,607 | $48K | 20.8% | 7.4% | 10% | D |
| 3,925 | Gibson City IL | 3,371 | $43K | 14.3% | 8.9% | 36% | D |
| 3,926 | Castleton Township MI | 3,425 | $59K | 15.0% | 14.5% | 4% | D |
| 3,927 | Elizabeth Township OH | 2,415 | $61K | 18.5% | 4.5% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Gibson City, 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 Gibson City: questions
What is the median household income in Gibson City?
$42,955 (±$13,469) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gibson City?
14.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gibson City?
13 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gibson City work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Champaign (7%, 25 mi), Bloomington (5%, 31 mi), Urbana (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Gibson City walkable?
Gibson City is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gibson City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gibson City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gibson City
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.