Photo: NatFee · CC BY-SA 4.0North Pekin has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers; Illinois has 16%. Employers in North Pekin report 183 jobs, against 712 working residents. For jobs and income North Pekin is better than 72% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets North Pekin apart on work
North Pekin is a place people come home to
There are 183 jobs based in North Pekin, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday North Pekin has about 920 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in North Pekin than ten years ago
Jobs counted in North Pekin fell from 322 in 2014 to 183 in 2024, −43%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from North Pekin 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 712 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in North Pekin
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($80,224, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: North Pekin’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, North Pekin could be anywhere from B− to A.
North Pekin quiets down on a workday
On a workday 706 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 177 people come in from elsewhere.
About 920 people are in North Pekin on a workday afternoon, 37% 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 2024, primary jobs.
What North Pekin’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Pekin, 2014 → 2024: 322 → 183. 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 North Pekin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From North Pekin, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Pekin workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 796 commuters (the 4% 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.
26% of working residents work in Peoria
Where North Pekin clocks in
Lines 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.
North Pekin’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In North Pekin, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 826 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 85% 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 40% 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). 1.0% of North Pekin households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of North Pekin’s commuters take a bus or train.
North Pekin is 994th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 992 | Monroe Township OH | 1,649 | $81K | 3.7% | 4.3% | 3% | B+ |
| 993 | Kayak Point WA | 1,883 | $119K | 3.4% | 5.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 994 | North Pekin IL | 1,447 | $80K | 7.7% | 5.2% | 1% | B+ |
| 995 | Russiaville IN | 1,312 | $84K | 4.2% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 996 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 North Pekin, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 12% of North Pekin’s workers
The biggest share goes to Pekin (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Pekin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Pekin | – | B+ | B− | 19 min | $80,224 |
| Pekin | 10% | C+ | A− | 22 min | $60,790 |
| Marquette Heights | 2% | A | D | 18 min | $75,625 |
| Creve Coeur | under 3% | C+ | C | 16 min | $47,993 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of North Pekin’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 North Pekin: questions
What is the median household income in North Pekin?
$80,224 (±$16,063) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Pekin?
7.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Pekin?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Pekin work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peoria (26%, 10 mi), Pekin (10%, 3 mi), East Peoria (8%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is North Pekin walkable?
North Pekin is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Pekin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Pekin, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Pekin
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.