Work means Springfield for more than half of New Berlin’s working residents
Jobs and income earn New Berlin B; getting around on foot earns it B+. Only 4% stay in New Berlin for work; outside it, Springfield is the main destination (51%, 15 miles). The average commute takes 23 minutes each way; Illinois averages 28, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set New Berlin apart
More than half of New Berlin works in Springfield
298 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Springfield, 15 miles away. That’s 13 times as many as work in New Berlin itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from New Berlin are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 38 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 582 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in New Berlin
On income, poverty and job access, New Berlin is better than 58% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds New Berlin’s grade up (6.4%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($70,179, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (5.5%) is left out: New Berlin’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, New Berlin could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Commuting out of New Berlin: the destinations
Where New Berlin clocks in
51% of workers
2% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from New Berlin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Berlin workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 587 commuters (the 18% 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.
New Berlin on a workday afternoon
On a workday 561 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 203 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in New Berlin on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.38 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 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in New Berlin: what the 224 are
224 jobs are based in New Berlin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Berlin, 2013 → 2023: 261 → 224. 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 New Berlin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of New Berlin commutes less than 15 miles
About 23% 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.
Getting around New Berlin: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Berlin is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 714 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.9% of New Berlin households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Berlin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,800, New Berlin ranks 1,447th of 5,400 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,445 | Harlem Heights FL | 1,122 | $57K | 4.9% | 7.6% | 2% | B |
| 1,446 | Riner VA | 1,038 | $106K | 9.8% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,447 | New Berlin IL | 1,361 | $70K | 6.4% | 5.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,448 | Hillcrest IL | 1,210 | $81K | 9.6% | 3.9% | 3% | B |
| 1,449 | Mazon Township IL | 1,482 | $82K | 8.1% | 2.1% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 New Berlin, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
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 New Berlin: questions
What is the median household income in New Berlin?
$70,179 (±$10,167) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Berlin?
6.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Berlin?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Berlin work?
4% work in town.
Is New Berlin walkable?
New Berlin is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Berlin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Berlin, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Berlin
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.