Champaign 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 Champaign 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. Champaign’s economy is one such example of this.
Not only is Champaign a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, shaping the character of the city into a place that is geared toward, and considered attractive to, many single, educated people. Many singles consider Champaign a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.
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 like to read, write and learn? If you move to Champaign, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Champaign is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 53.61% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 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.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Champaign's cultural character, accounting for 16.95% of the city’s population.
The most common language spoken in Champaign is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
