Springfield draws about half of Pleasant Plains’ working residents
Only 2% work in Pleasant Plains itself; outside it, Springfield draws the most (50%, 16 miles). 5% of workers work from home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%. A typical one-way commute lasts 23 minutes; Illinois averages 28, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Pleasant Plains: the gist
More than half of Pleasant Plains works in Springfield
176 working residents, 50%, have their main job in Springfield, 16 miles away. That’s 25 times as many as work in Pleasant Plains itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Pleasant Plains 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 ↓
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 352 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Pleasant Plains goes to work
Where Pleasant Plains clocks in
50% 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 daily trip from Pleasant Plains: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pleasant Plains workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 430 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.
Who commutes out of Pleasant Plains, and who commutes in
On a workday 345 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 274 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 (0.80 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.
The kinds of work in Pleasant Plains
281 jobs are based in Pleasant Plains.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pleasant Plains, 2013 → 2023: 189 → 281. 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 Pleasant Plains’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Pleasant Plains
About 24% 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 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 Pleasant Plains: questions
What is the median household income in Pleasant Plains?
$89,643 (±$13,312) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pleasant Plains?
3.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pleasant Plains?
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 Pleasant Plains work?
2% work in town.
Can you get around Pleasant Plains without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pleasant Plains, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pleasant Plains
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.