Virden is a very small city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 3,183 people and just one neighborhood, Virden is the 451st largest community in Illinois. Much of the housing stock in Virden was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Virden is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Virden is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Virden who work in sales jobs (10.00%), healthcare (8.39%), and office and administrative support (8.11%).
Also of interest is that Virden has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Being a small city, Virden does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The rate of college-level education in Virden is quite a bit lower than the national average among all cities of 21.84%: just 11.05% of people here over 25 have a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree.
The per capita income in Virden in 2022 was $31,297, 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 $125,188 for a family of four. However, Virden contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Virden home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Virden residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Virden include German, English, Irish, Italian, and French.
The most common language spoken in Virden is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and German/Yiddish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Divorcees may find friendship and understanding in this neighborhood, as 20.6% of its residents are divorced. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis found that this divorce rate is higher than in 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Virden are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 40.3% of the neighborhoods in America. With 11.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 52.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 31.1% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 30.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (25.9%), and 11.4% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 99.7% of households. Some people also speak Italian (4.7%).
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Virden, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (16.1%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (14.9%), and residents who report Irish roots (7.6%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (3.0%), along with some French ancestry residents (2.3%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (42.5% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (76.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (9.3%) and 8.0% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.