Photo: Omnedon · Public domainMost of Potomac commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
3% of workers have no commute at all; Illinois has 16%. Potomac has 30 jobs for 293 working residents. Hardly any work in Potomac itself; outside it, Danville draws the most (21%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Potomac apart on work
Potomac is a place people come home to
There are 30 jobs based in Potomac, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Potomac has about 390 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Potomac and Danville trade workers both ways
Danville is the top workplace for Potomac residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Potomac come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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; with 293 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How many people are in Potomac by day
On a workday 293 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 30 people come in from elsewhere.
About 390 people are in Potomac on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Potomac’s working residents head each day
Where Potomac clocks in
21% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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.
Potomac’s commute, mile by mile
About 32% 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.
Jobs in Potomac: what the 30 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Potomac, 2013 → 2023: 54 → 30. 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 Potomac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Potomac: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Potomac workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 279 commuters (the 3% 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.
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 Potomac: questions
What is the median household income in Potomac?
$53,194 (±$5,576) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Potomac?
7.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Potomac?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Potomac work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danville (21%, 15 mi), Champaign (10%, 28 mi), Urbana (7%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Potomac without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Potomac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Potomac
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.