Urbana is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 39,831 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, Urbana is the 47th largest community in Illinois.

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.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.59% 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, Urbana 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 Urbana culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Urbana really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Urbana 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 Urbana. 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. Urbana benefits directly from this.

Urbana, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

One of the benefits of Urbana is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 15.38 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.

Urbana has a lot of people who ride the bus to and from work. In fact, for its size, Urbana has quite a high level of public transit users. Urbana’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 Urbana. 56.75% 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 Urbana in 2022 was $32,592, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $130,368 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. Urbana also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.12% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Urbana include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Urbana's cultural character, accounting for 21.18% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Urbana is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.