Work means Decatur for more than half of Long Creek’s working residents
The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average, where Illinois has 28 and the U.S. 26. Long Creek grades B for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 2% work in Long Creek itself; outside it, Decatur draws the most (53%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Long Creek, in a few figures
Most Long Creek residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Long Creek are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 69 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 596 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Long Creek’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Long Creek is better than 63% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (6.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Long Creek’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Long Creek could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The commute from Long Creek, by distance
About 20% 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.
Commuting from Long Creek: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Long Creek workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 509 commuters (the 14% 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.
Long Creek by day and by night
On a workday 585 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 209 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Long Creek on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.37 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The places Long Creek commutes to
Where Long Creek clocks in
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.
Long Creek works in goods: 30% of its jobs
220 jobs are based in Long Creek.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Long Creek, 2014 → 2024: 320 → 220. 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 Long Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Long Creek gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Long Creek is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Long Creek near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 590 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). 1.3% of Long Creek households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Long Creek’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Long Creek is 955th among 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 953 | Norrie WI | 1,037 | $93K | 5.1% | 0.4% | 1% | B |
| 954 | Leona Valley CA | 1,465 | $132K | 7.2% | 1.7% | 2% | B |
| 955 | Long Creek IL | 1,212 | $79K | 6.7% | 5.2% | 2% | B |
| 956 | Oskaloosa KS | 1,060 | $84K | 5.7% | 2.2% | 9% | B |
| 957 | Hoyleton Township IL | 1,026 | $100K | 7.0% | 5.5% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Long Creek, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns next door employ 60% of Long Creek
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Long Creek workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Creek | – | B | B | 19 min | $78,519 |
| Decatur | 53% | C− | B+ | 18 min | $51,592 |
| Mount Zion | 7% | A− | C− | 22 min | $103,365 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Decatur. Darker towns draw more of Long Creek’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 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 Long Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Long Creek?
$78,519 (±$8,575) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Long Creek?
6.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Long Creek?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Long Creek work?
2% work in town.
Is Long Creek walkable?
Long Creek is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Long Creek 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 Long Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Long Creek
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.