With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Lake City works elsewhere
Hardly any work in Lake City; the top destination outside it is Sullivan (13%, 12 miles). There are 11 jobs in Lake City; 30 of its residents have a job. Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers; Illinois has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lake City quiets down on a workday
On a workday 30 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 11 people come in from elsewhere.
About 73 people are in Lake City 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Lake City: the destinations
Where Lake City clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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 Lake City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake City, 2014 → 2024: 4 → 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 Lake City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Lake City
of Lake City workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 58 commuters (the 0% 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.
Lake City’s commute, mile by mile
About 30% 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.
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 Lake City: questions
What is the poverty rate in Lake City?
0.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Lake City work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sullivan (13%, 12 mi), Decatur (13%, 13 mi), Carbondale (7%, 143 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Lake City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake 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.