Urbana is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 38,468 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, Urbana is the 47th largest community in Illinois.Urbana is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 90.68% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Urbana is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Urbana who work in teaching (24.66%), office and administrative support (9.23%), and food service (8.50%). And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Urbana has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too. Also of interest is that Urbana has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Urbana telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 12.30% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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. Urbana is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Urbana have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Urbana’s economy is one such example of this. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Urbana spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 15.29 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be. Many people in Urbana take advantage of public transportation to get around. In fact, for the size of the city, the number of people who use the bus to commute to work is quite high. This helps to fill a need among Urbana citizens for affordable transportation.If knowledge is power, Urbana is a pretty powerful place. 58.45% of the adults in Urbana have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Urbana in 2022 was $28,954, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $115,816 for a family of four. However, Urbana contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Urbana is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Urbana home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Urbana residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Urbana include German, Irish, English, Polish, and Italian. Foreign born people are also an important part of Urbana's cultural character, accounting for 18.49% of the city’s population. The most common language spoken in Urbana is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
