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. Because Urbana has a very large number of students who are 18 years or older and in college, it is thought of as a college town. This has a major influence on local Urbana lifestyle, entertainment, and culture in general. Life in Urbana is very much tied to the academic calendar: when students return from the summer break in the fall, one will notice them out and about, buying groceries, out with friends, and generally getting re-acquainted with each other. In Urbana people study hard and play hard, and there is ample opportunity to do both. 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. Urbana also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 18.49%. The most common language spoken in Urbana is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
