Photo: Robert Haugland · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Knoxville commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Knoxville report 580 jobs for 1,219 working residents. The two grades for Knoxville are B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Knoxville and work: the main findings
Knoxville and Galesburg trade workers both ways
Galesburg is the top workplace for Knoxville residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Knoxville come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Knoxville has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Knoxville went from 373 in 2013 to 580 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Knoxville are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Knoxville
52% of Knoxville residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in Knoxville pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Knoxville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Knoxville is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #502 of 768 in Illinois. The poverty rate holds Knoxville’s grade up (7.2%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Knoxville could be anywhere from C− to A−.
34% of working residents work in Galesburg
Where Knoxville clocks in
34% of workers
2% 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 Knoxville’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Knoxville, 2013 → 2023: 373 → 580. 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 Knoxville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Knoxville takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Knoxville workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,357 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.
Who commutes out of Knoxville, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,100 residents head out to work, 119 work right here, and 461 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Knoxville on a workday afternoon, 23% 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 far Knoxville’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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Knoxville walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Knoxville is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns, #725 of 768 in Illinois. 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 1,435 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). 3.0% of Knoxville households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Knoxville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Knoxville next to U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800: 2,218th of 4,703 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,216 | Orangeville Township MI | 3,497 | $83K | 6.9% | 5.7% | 4% | B− |
| 2,217 | Gleed WA | 2,844 | $79K | 13.6% | 3.6% | 3% | B− |
| 2,218 | Knoxville IL | 2,810 | $83K | 7.2% | 5.8% | 10% | B− |
| 2,219 | Conesus NY | 2,323 | $80K | 7.0% | 3.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,220 | Saranac NY | 3,791 | $83K | 12.2% | 0.7% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Knoxville, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
35% of Knoxville works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Galesburg (34%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Knoxville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knoxville | – | B− | C− | 21 min | $82,863 |
| Knox Township | 1% | B− | C− | 21 min | $82,353 |
| Galesburg | 34% | C− | A− | 17 min | $48,297 |
| Galesburg City Township | under 2% | C− | A− | 17 min | $48,297 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Knoxville’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 Knoxville: questions
What is the median household income in Knoxville?
$82,863 (±$21,555) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Knoxville?
7.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Knoxville?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Knoxville work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Galesburg (34%, 6 mi), Peoria (10%, 37 mi), Moline (2%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Knoxville walkable?
Knoxville is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Knoxville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Knoxville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Knoxville
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.