Champaign is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 89,189 people and 20 associated neighborhoods, Champaign is the tenth largest community in Illinois.Champaign is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 86.07% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Champaign is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Champaign who work in teaching (16.04%), office and administrative support (9.11%), and management occupations (8.78%). Also of interest is that Champaign has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 14.94% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. In addition, Champaign is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on local Champaign culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Champaign really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Champaign every fall, returning students reinvigorate the community, who you will notice are all over town, buying groceries, out with friends, and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with each other and Champaign. One of the beneficial effects that colleges provide is that they tend to be lasting institutions that deliver direct economic benefits to the local economy in the form of such things as jobs for faculty and staff, and spending by students. Champaign benefits directly from this. One of the benefits of Champaign is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.66 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result. Champaign has a lot of people who ride the bus to and from work. In fact, for its size, Champaign has quite a high level of public transit users. Champaign’s need for inexpensive transportation options for its citizens is quite high.Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Champaign. 53.61% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%. The per capita income in Champaign in 2022 was $35,886, which is middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $143,544 for a family of four. However, Champaign contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Champaign is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Champaign home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Champaign residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Champaign include German, Irish, English, Polish, and Italian. In addition, Champaign has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (16.95%). The most common language spoken in Champaign is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
