Because Champaign 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 Champaign lifestyle, entertainment, and culture in general. Life in Champaign 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 Champaign people study hard and play hard, and there is ample opportunity to do both.
Not only is Champaign a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. That’s because Champaign is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Champaign a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 16.67 minutes getting to work every day.
Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Champaign is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Champaign area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.
Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Champaign. 51.76% 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 $34,879, which is middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $139,516 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, Italian, and Polish.
In addition, Champaign has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (17.01%).
The most common language spoken in Champaign is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
