Photo: Matt Turner · CC BY 2.0Unemployment in Petersburg (1.4%) is lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
8% of workers work from home (Illinois 16%). For jobs and income Petersburg is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (B+). Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Petersburg
38% of Petersburg works in Springfield
358 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Springfield, 19 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Petersburg itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Petersburg are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 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 941 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Petersburg’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Unemployment holds Petersburg’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($56,458, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Petersburg could be anywhere from C− to B.
Commuting out of Petersburg: the destinations
Where Petersburg clocks in
38% of workers
2% 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.
Petersburg’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Petersburg workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,108 commuters (the 8% 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 leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 794 residents head out to work, 147 work right here, and 669 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 (0.87 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Inside Petersburg’s 816 jobs
816 jobs are based in Petersburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Petersburg, 2014 → 2024: 823 → 816. 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 Petersburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Petersburg goes to work
About 26% 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.
Most trips from Petersburg start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,204 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). 17.5% of Petersburg households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Petersburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Petersburg next to U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900: 2,907th of 5,404 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Port Barrington IL | 1,584 | $150K | 2.7% | 2.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,905 | Loma Rica CA | 2,343 | $98K | 6.3% | 7.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,906 | Inwood WV | 2,794 | $84K | 14.5% | 6.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,907 | Petersburg IL | 2,125 | $56K | 15.7% | 1.4% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,908 | Livingston LA | 2,006 | $62K | 16.3% | 2.6% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,909 | Acton ME | 2,735 | $79K | 7.8% | 4.6% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Petersburg, 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 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 Petersburg: questions
What is the median household income in Petersburg?
$56,458 (±$14,417) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Petersburg?
15.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Petersburg?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Petersburg work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (38%, 19 mi), Chicago (2%, 169 mi), Bloomington (2%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Petersburg walkable?
Petersburg is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Petersburg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Petersburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Petersburg
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.