Photo: ProfDEH at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Washburn has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Washburn has 179 jobs, and 443 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Washburn is better than 54% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (C). 6% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Washburn
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Washburn
The poverty rate holds Washburn’s grade up (7.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.8%) is left out: Washburn’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Washburn could be anywhere from C− to A−.
About 37 minutes each way for Washburn’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Washburn workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 429 commuters (the 6% 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.
Washburn quiets down on a workday
On a workday 420 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 156 people come in from elsewhere.
About 740 people are in Washburn on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
17% of working residents work in Peoria
Where Washburn clocks in
8% 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.
Jobs in Washburn: what the 179 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Washburn, 2013 → 2023: 190 → 179. 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 Washburn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Washburn
About 19% 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.
Driving is how Washburn gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of 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 454 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). 6.7% of Washburn households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Washburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Washburn is 901st of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Tower Lakes IL | 1,201 | $154K | 2.0% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| 20 | Third Lake IL | 1,103 | $150K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Lily Lake IL | 1,073 | $140K | 0.2% | 8.9% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 899 | Rio FL | 1,232 | $92K | 13.6% | 17.6% | <1% | B− |
| 900 | Long Lake Township MN | 1,185 | $85K | 6.0% | 4.3% | 1% | B− |
| 901 | Washburn IL | 1,008 | $77K | 7.5% | 5.8% | 5% | B− |
| 902 | Schuylerville NY | 1,348 | $87K | 9.6% | 2.5% | 7% | B− |
| 903 | Shipman Township IL | 1,273 | $98K | 9.6% | 1.2% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Washburn, 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 Washburn: questions
What is the median household income in Washburn?
$76,667 (±$28,151) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Washburn?
7.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Washburn?
37 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Washburn work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Peoria (17%, 21 mi), Metamora (8%, 10 mi), Normal (5%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Washburn walkable?
Washburn is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Washburn without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Washburn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Washburn
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.