Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5Leaf River has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. Leaf River has 34 jobs; 212 of its residents have a job. Hardly any stay in Leaf River for work; outside it, Rockford is the main destination (24%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Leaf River apart on work
Leaf River is a place people come home to
There are 34 jobs based in Leaf River, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Leaf River has about 240 people in it, 43% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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 ↓
Few Leaf River workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 212 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How a workday changes Leaf River
On a workday 210 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 32 people come in from elsewhere.
About 240 people are in Leaf River on a workday afternoon, 43% 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.
Half of Leaf River commutes less than 22 miles
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
From Leaf River, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leaf River workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 263 commuters (the 3% 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.
Out of Leaf River to work: where people go
Where Leaf River clocks in
24% of workers
7% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Leaf River
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leaf River, 2013 → 2023: 20 → 34. 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 Leaf River’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 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 Leaf River: questions
What is the median household income in Leaf River?
$79,500 (±$13,567) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leaf River?
12.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leaf River?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leaf River work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockford (24%, 20 mi), Byron (7%, 7 mi), Chicago (7%, 90 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Leaf River 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 Leaf River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leaf River
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.