Photo: Kepper66 · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Milan (1.1%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Milan itself; outside it, Rock Island draws the most (20%, 3 miles). Milan grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Home is the office for 7% of workers, where Illinois as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Milan, in a few figures
A lot of Milan workers cross into Iowa
34% of Milan workers work outside Illinois, most of them in Iowa, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Milan is where the jobs are
Milan has 4,465 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 7,300 people are in town, 44% more than the 5,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Milan residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
A lot of Milan works one town over
34% of working residents work in a town that borders Milan: Rock Island (20%) and Moline (14%). Next door ↓
Many of the people who work in Milan live in another state
Davenport, IA (11%) and Bettendorf, IA (4%) are among the top places Milan’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 15% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
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.
Milan’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milan is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #399 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Milan’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($62,597, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Milan could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where Milan’s workforce comes from
Where Milan clocks in
20% of workers
15% of workers
14% 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 daily flow of workers through Milan
On a workday 2,065 residents head out to work, 164 work right here, and 4,301 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,300 people are in Milan on a workday afternoon, 44% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where in the region Milan works
About 19% 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.
Jobs in Milan: what the 4,465 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milan, 2013 → 2023: 4,575 → 4,465. 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 Milan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Milan takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milan workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,331 commuters (the 7% 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.
Milan is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Milan is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #310 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,500 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). 7.2% of Milan households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Milan’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Milan ranks: 1,537th of 3,758 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,535 | Orleans MA | 6,524 | $102K | 8.6% | 3.2% | 22% | B |
| 1,536 | La Grand Township MN | 4,309 | $94K | 10.0% | 2.5% | 3% | B |
| 1,537 | Milan IL | 5,028 | $63K | 12.3% | 1.1% | 7% | B |
| 1,538 | Princeton MN | 5,480 | $62K | 8.5% | 1.6% | 21% | B |
| 1,539 | Primera TX | 5,478 | $80K | 13.1% | 2.9% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Milan, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 34% of Milan
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Milan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan | – | B | A− | 22 min | $62,597 |
| Rock Island | 20% | C | A− | 19 min | $59,041 |
| Blackhawk Township | under 2% | B | B+ | 23 min | $65,414 |
| South Rock Island Township | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 20 min | $69,711 |
| Coyne Center | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Oak Grove | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Moline | 14% | C+ | A− | 18 min | $67,701 |
| South Moline Township | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 18 min | $67,829 |
Same-state neighbors only. Coyne Center and Oak Grove: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rock Island. Darker towns draw more of Milan’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 Milan: questions
What is the median household income in Milan?
$62,597 (±$7,798) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milan?
12.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milan?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milan work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rock Island (20%, 3 mi), Davenport (15%, 9 mi), Moline (14%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milan walkable?
Milan is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milan without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milan
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.