Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5Unemployment in Pecatonica (1.6%) is lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Pecatonica is better than 73% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in ten work in Pecatonica; the top destination outside it is Rockford (32%, 15 miles). 10% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Pecatonica and work: the main findings
Pecatonica and Rockford trade workers both ways
Rockford is the top workplace for Pecatonica residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Pecatonica come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Pecatonica pay little
29% of the jobs based in Pecatonica pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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; with 957 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Pecatonica’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Pecatonica’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($73,162, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pecatonica could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where Pecatonica goes to work
Where Pecatonica clocks in
32% of workers
4% 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 569 jobs based in Pecatonica
569 jobs are based in Pecatonica.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pecatonica, 2013 → 2023: 709 → 569. 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 Pecatonica’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Pecatonica by day
On a workday 868 residents head out to work, 89 work right here, and 480 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Pecatonica on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pecatonica workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 960 commuters (the 10% 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 in the region Pecatonica works
About 29% 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.
Pecatonica is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 1,063 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). 5.4% of Pecatonica households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pecatonica’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,094th of 5,793: where Pecatonica ranks among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Port Barrington IL | 1,584 | $150K | 2.7% | 2.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,092 | Shamokin Township PA | 2,430 | $95K | 5.0% | 3.0% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,093 | Barbee IN | 1,464 | $95K | 3.8% | 12.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,094 | Pecatonica IL | 2,052 | $73K | 7.0% | 1.6% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,095 | Paxtang PA | 1,632 | $87K | 4.1% | 6.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,096 | Holland MA | 2,577 | $92K | 5.9% | 3.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Pecatonica, 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 Pecatonica: questions
What is the median household income in Pecatonica?
$73,162 (±$8,904) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pecatonica?
7.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pecatonica?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pecatonica work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockford (32%, 15 mi), Chicago (4%, 92 mi), Loves Park (3%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pecatonica walkable?
Pecatonica is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pecatonica without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pecatonica, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pecatonica
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.