Prairie City has 0.0 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any work in Prairie City; the top destination outside it is Bushnell (23%, 5 miles). There are 5 jobs in Prairie City, and 177 of its residents work somewhere. At home: 1% of workers have no commute at all (Illinois 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Prairie City by day and by night
On a workday 177 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 5 people come in from elsewhere.
About 220 people are in Prairie City on a workday afternoon, 44% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Prairie City to work: where people go
Where Prairie City clocks in
23% 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 kinds of work in Prairie City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prairie City, 2014 → 2024: 69 → 5. 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 Prairie City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Prairie City: 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 Prairie City workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 184 commuters (the 1% 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.
Miles to work from Prairie City
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 2024.
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 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 Prairie City: questions
What is the median household income in Prairie City?
$60,694 (±$15,564) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prairie City?
11.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prairie City?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prairie City work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bushnell (23%, 5 mi), Macomb (20%, 16 mi), Monmouth (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Prairie City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prairie City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prairie City
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.