Work, pay and getting to work in Villa Grove
5% of workers work from home (Illinois 16%). For jobs and income Villa Grove is better than 51% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (C−). About one in ten work in Villa Grove itself; outside it, Champaign draws the most (18%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Villa Grove
The better-paid jobs are outside Villa Grove
54% of Villa Grove residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 28% of the jobs based in Villa Grove pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Villa Grove pay little
33% of the jobs based in Villa Grove pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Villa Grove has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Villa Grove went from 441 in 2013 to 682 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
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 936 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Villa Grove
The poverty rate holds Villa Grove’s grade up (7.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Villa Grove could be anywhere from C to B+.
Most jobs in Villa Grove are in services
682 jobs are based in Villa Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Villa Grove, 2013 → 2023: 441 → 682. 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 Villa Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Villa Grove, and who commutes in
On a workday 859 residents head out to work, 77 work right here, and 605 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Villa Grove on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.73 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 Villa Grove goes to work
Where Villa Grove clocks in
18% of workers
12% of workers
8% 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.
Time on the road from Villa Grove: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Villa Grove workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,102 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Villa Grove
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.
For most of Villa Grove, work means a drive
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,160 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). 4.9% of Villa Grove households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Villa Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Villa Grove places 2,256th of 5,207 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,254 | Homewood SC | 2,708 | $65K | 21.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B− |
| 2,255 | Alderton WA | 2,706 | $97K | 11.1% | 11.8% | 2% | B− |
| 2,256 | Villa Grove IL | 2,447 | $71K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 8% | B− |
| 2,257 | Carrington ND | 1,950 | $77K | 9.7% | 1.4% | 45% | B− |
| 2,258 | Fayette Township IN | 2,735 | $87K | 6.9% | 5.8% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Villa Grove, 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 Villa Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Villa Grove?
$70,647 (±$7,734) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Villa Grove?
7.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Villa Grove?
31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Villa Grove work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Champaign (18%, 18 mi), Urbana (12%, 17 mi), Tuscola (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Villa Grove walkable?
Villa Grove is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Villa Grove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Villa Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Villa Grove
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.