Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Households in Paris have lower incomes than those in 83% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 12.5% of residents (Illinois 11.8%). The two grades for Paris are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 1% of workers work from home (Illinois 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Paris, in brief
Commutes from Paris are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Paris is where the jobs are
Paris has 4,549 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Few Paris workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Paris makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Paris are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Paris residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Paris
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Paris is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #685 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Paris’ grade up (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($53,927, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paris could be anywhere from D to B−.
Time on the road from Paris: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paris workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,756 commuters (the 1% 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.
Who works in Paris, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,676 residents head out to work, 1,323 work right here, and 3,226 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,600 people are in Paris on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Paris makes things: 39% of its jobs are in goods
4,549 jobs are based in Paris.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paris, 2013 → 2023: 3,846 → 4,549. 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 Paris’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Paris
Where Paris clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
Half of Paris commutes less than 11 miles
About 25% 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.
Paris 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, Paris is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #254 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Paris 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 3,809 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). 10.8% of Paris households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Paris’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,015 U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800, Paris comes 2,519th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,517 | Paradise CA | 10,023 | $68K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 18% | C− |
| 2,518 | Beardstown IL | 5,691 | $61K | 13.7% | 4.6% | 42% | C− |
| 2,519 | Paris IL | 8,026 | $54K | 12.5% | 5.0% | 44% | C− |
| 2,520 | Travelers Rest SC | 9,135 | $55K | 22.0% | 6.2% | 10% | C− |
| 2,521 | Prosser WA | 6,654 | $77K | 16.8% | 8.0% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Paris, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Around Paris: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Paris Township (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Paris workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris | – | C− | A− | 14 min | $53,927 |
| Paris Township | 5% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Paris Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Paris’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 Paris: questions
What is the median household income in Paris?
$53,927 (±$4,066) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paris?
12.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paris?
14 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Paris work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paris Township (5%, 1 mi), Terre Haute (5%, 20 mi), Marshall (3%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paris walkable?
Paris is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paris without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paris, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paris
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.