Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0At 2.9%, unemployment in Morris is lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 22 minutes, next to 28 for Illinois and 26 for the U.S. The two grades for Morris are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in five stay in Morris for work; outside it, Chicago is the main destination (9%, 50 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Morris, in brief
Morris’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Morris is Chicago, 50 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (649) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Morris trades workers with the towns around it
Morris has about as many jobs (7,299) as working residents (7,000), but they are mostly different people: 5,567 residents leave for work each day while 5,866 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Morris are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Morris are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Morris draws workers from far and wide
The 7,299 jobs in Morris are filled from a wide area. Morris’ own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
Inside Morris’ Jobs & income grade
Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($76,711, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morris could be anywhere from B− to A.
How far Morris goes to work
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
A workday in Morris: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 5,567 residents head out to work, 1,433 work right here, and 5,866 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 per resident).
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 long Morris spends getting to work: 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 Morris workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,639 commuters (the 12% 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.
Where the trip to work from Morris ends
Where Morris clocks in
9% of workers
7% of workers
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.
The 7,299 jobs based in Morris
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morris, 2013 → 2023: 5,784 → 7,299. 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 Morris’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Morris commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morris is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #413 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Morris 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 7,514 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). 7.5% of Morris households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Morris’ commuters take a bus or train.
Morris is 1,007th of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,005 | Cedar Mill OR | 19,471 | $164K | 8.1% | 7.8% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,006 | Waihee-Waiehu HI | 10,988 | $127K | 6.0% | 4.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,007 | Morris IL | 14,669 | $77K | 7.7% | 2.9% | 20% | B+ |
| 1,008 | Milton NY | 19,546 | $100K | 5.8% | 4.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,009 | Black Forest CO | 15,738 | $145K | 5.0% | 4.8% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Morris, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work in the towns next to Morris
The biggest share goes to Wauponsee Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morris workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris | – | B+ | B+ | 22 min | $76,711 |
| Morris Township | under 2% | B | B+ | 21 min | $74,458 |
| Wauponsee Township | 2% | A− | D | 23 min | $117,928 |
| Erienna Township | under 2% | A | B | 20 min | $96,906 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Morris’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 Morris: questions
What is the median household income in Morris?
$76,711 (±$7,493) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morris?
7.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morris?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morris work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (9%, 50 mi), Joliet (7%, 17 mi), Minooka (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morris walkable?
Morris is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morris without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morris, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morris
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.