Photo: IvoShandor · CC BY-SA 3.0Pontiac has 1.2 jobs for every working resident: 3,362 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C: better than 34% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #606 of 768 in Illinois.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns · #295 of 768 in Illinois.
Household incomes here are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 17 minutes each way (Illinois 28, U.S. 26). About one in three work in Pontiac; the top destination outside it is Bloomington (6%, 33 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Pontiac
Commutes from Pontiac are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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.
What’s behind Pontiac’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pontiac is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #606 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment holds Pontiac’s grade up (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($61,279, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pontiac could be anywhere from C− to B−.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pontiac workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,332 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Pontiac commutes less than 32 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 36% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,654 residents head out to work, 1,257 work right here, and 3,362 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 (1.18 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.
6% of working residents work in Bloomington
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Pontiac clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 4,619 jobs in Pontiac are
4,619 jobs are based in Pontiac. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pontiac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pontiac, 2013 → 2023: 5,159 → 4,619. 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.
Pontiac 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, Pontiac is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #295 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Pontiac 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 4,585 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). 7.9% of Pontiac households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pontiac’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pontiac is 1,883rd of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pontiac, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,881 | Shelton WA | 10,921 | $70K | 17.4% | 3.8% | 17% | C |
| 1,882 | Marinette WI | 11,168 | $59K | 11.8% | 3.8% | 46% | C |
| 1,883 | Pontiac IL | 10,806 | $61K | 13.1% | 4.2% | 32% | C |
| 1,884 | Vidor TX | 9,597 | $62K | 10.7% | 7.4% | 17% | C |
| 1,885 | Sauk Village IL | 9,624 | $70K | 17.6% | 12.6% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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.
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 Pontiac: questions
What is the median household income in Pontiac?
$61,279 (±$8,526) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pontiac?
13.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pontiac?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pontiac work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bloomington (6%, 33 mi), Normal (5%, 31 mi), Chicago (4%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pontiac walkable?
Pontiac is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pontiac without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pontiac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pontiac
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.