Photo: IvoShandor · CC BY-SA 3.0Ottawa has higher unemployment (6.9%) than 82% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Ottawa C; getting around on foot earns it B−. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, where Illinois as a whole has 16%. About one in four work in Ottawa; the top destination outside it is Chicago (4%, 68 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Ottawa, in brief
No single place dominates Ottawa’s commute
The biggest draw, Chicago, gets only 4% of working residents, and 51% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Ottawa residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Ottawa trades workers with the towns around it
Ottawa has about as many jobs (9,220) as working residents (8,135), but they are mostly different people: 5,931 residents leave for work each day while 7,016 people come in. Only 24% of the jobs in Ottawa are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Ottawa 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 ↓
Ottawa draws workers from far and wide
The 9,220 jobs in Ottawa are filled from a wide area. Ottawa’s own residents hold 24% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Ottawa
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ottawa is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #660 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Ottawa’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ottawa could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Where Ottawa goes to work
Where Ottawa clocks in
4% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Ottawa
On a workday 5,931 residents head out to work, 2,204 work right here, and 7,016 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 (1.13 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.
Ottawa’s commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ottawa workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,665 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ottawa
About 32% 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.
What Ottawa’s employers do
9,220 jobs are based in Ottawa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ottawa, 2013 → 2023: 8,892 → 9,220. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ottawa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Ottawa, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ottawa is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #567 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 8,085 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). 7.1% of Ottawa households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ottawa’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Ottawa ranks: 1,616th of 1,915 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,614 | Defiance OH | 17,009 | $61K | 14.7% | 5.5% | 33% | C |
| 1,615 | South Houston TX | 16,407 | $53K | 26.1% | 8.3% | 4% | C |
| 1,616 | Ottawa IL | 18,684 | $71K | 17.3% | 6.9% | 27% | C |
| 1,617 | Oshtemo Township MI | 23,971 | $58K | 19.5% | 6.6% | 8% | C |
| 1,618 | Chillicothe OH | 21,815 | $54K | 17.4% | 4.9% | 29% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | 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 Ottawa, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Around Ottawa: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Dayton Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ottawa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa | – | C | B− | 23 min | $71,413 |
| Dayton | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Naplate | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Ottawa Township | under 2% | C− | B− | 19 min | $70,008 |
| Wallace Township | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Rutland Township | under 2% | B− | B+ | 28 min | $91,406 |
| Dayton Township | 2% | C | C+ | 20 min | $76,042 |
Same-state neighbors only. Dayton, Naplate and Wallace Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ottawa’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 Ottawa: questions
What is the median household income in Ottawa?
$71,413 (±$9,059) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ottawa?
17.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ottawa?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ottawa work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (4%, 68 mi), Peru (3%, 16 mi), Peoria (3%, 59 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ottawa walkable?
Ottawa is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ottawa 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 Ottawa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ottawa
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.