With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Wamac works elsewhere
2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Wamac has 146 jobs for 337 working residents. Hardly any work in Wamac itself; outside it, Centralia draws the most (22%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Wamac, in brief
Wamac and Centralia trade workers both ways
Centralia is the top workplace for Wamac residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Wamac come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Wamac workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Wamac are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. 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; with 337 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Wamac: the destinations
Where Wamac clocks in
22% 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.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The trip to work from Wamac: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wamac workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 325 commuters (the 2% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Wamac
On a workday 335 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 144 people come in from elsewhere.
About 770 people are in Wamac on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
Goods jobs make up 44% of work in Wamac
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wamac, 2013 → 2023: 189 → 146. 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 Wamac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Wamac to work
About 29% 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.
29% of Wamac works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wamac workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wamac | – | — | — | 22 min | $36,500 |
| Centralia | 22% | D | B+ | 19 min | $47,807 |
| Irvington Township | under 2% | B− | D | 27 min | $72,115 |
| Brookside Township | 2% | D− | B | 17 min | $44,875 |
| Centralia Township | 5% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Centralia Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Centralia. Darker towns draw more of Wamac’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Wamac: questions
What is the median household income in Wamac?
$36,500 (±$18,723) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wamac?
27.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wamac?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wamac work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Centralia (22%, 2 mi), Centralia Township (5%, 4 mi), Salem (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wamac without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wamac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wamac
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.