Photo: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0With 0.0 jobs for every working resident, most of Kirkwood works elsewhere
There are 11 jobs in Kirkwood for 263 working residents. Only 1% stay in Kirkwood for work; outside it, Monmouth is the main destination (26%, 6 miles). Home is the office for 5% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Kirkwood stands out on work
Kirkwood is a place people come home to
There are 11 jobs based in Kirkwood, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Kirkwood has about 400 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 Kirkwood are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 263 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who works in Kirkwood, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 260 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 8 people come in from elsewhere.
About 400 people are in Kirkwood on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Kirkwood’s commute, mile by mile
About 34% 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.
About 22 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kirkwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 333 commuters (the 5% 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.
Commuting out of Kirkwood: the destinations
Where Kirkwood clocks in
26% of workers
6% 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 Kirkwood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kirkwood, 2014 → 2024: 14 → 11. 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 Kirkwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Kirkwood: questions
What is the median household income in Kirkwood?
$67,917 (±$20,464) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kirkwood?
11.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kirkwood?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kirkwood work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Monmouth (26%, 6 mi), Galesburg (6%, 20 mi), Peoria (5%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Kirkwood 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 Kirkwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kirkwood
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.