Photo: Skvader · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Tolono (11.4%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
At home: 4% of workers have no commute at all (Illinois 16%). Tolono grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 2% stay in Tolono for work; outside it, Champaign is the main destination (32%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Tolono, in a few figures
Commutes from Tolono are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Tolono is a place people come home to
There are 238 jobs based in Tolono, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Tolono has about 2,200 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Tolono works in Champaign
505 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Champaign, 8.5 miles away. That’s 16 times as many as work in Tolono itself. The commute map ↓
Few Tolono workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Why Tolono gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tolono is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #536 of 768 in Illinois. The poverty rate holds Tolono’s grade up (4.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tolono could be anywhere from C− to A.
About 18 minutes to work from Tolono
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tolono workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,713 commuters (the 4% 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.
How a workday changes Tolono
On a workday 1,538 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Tolono on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.15 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 the trip to work from Tolono ends
Where Tolono clocks in
32% of workers
16% of workers
5% 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 238 jobs based in Tolono
238 jobs are based in Tolono.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tolono, 2013 → 2023: 212 → 238. 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 Tolono’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Tolono to work
About 20% 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.
The commute in Tolono is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tolono is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #721 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,792 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Tolono households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tolono’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tolono is 2,546th of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,544 | Catlin NY | 2,450 | $81K | 8.9% | 5.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,545 | Ridgewood IL | 2,795 | $93K | 22.8% | 8.7% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,546 | Tolono IL | 3,499 | $70K | 4.6% | 11.4% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,547 | Ithaca MI | 2,807 | $63K | 16.8% | 1.3% | 19% | C+ |
| 2,548 | Westville NJ | 4,357 | $71K | 15.4% | 7.1% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Tolono, 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 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 Tolono: questions
What is the median household income in Tolono?
$69,653 (±$31,354) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tolono?
4.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tolono?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tolono work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Champaign (32%, 8 mi), Urbana (16%, 9 mi), Savoy (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tolono walkable?
Tolono is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tolono without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tolono, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tolono
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.