Work & commute · Arlington Heights

Work & commute in Arlington Heights, IL

Most working residents leave Arlington Heights for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (18%), Schaumburg (4%) and Elk Grove Village (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

3,862 of 36,216 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 32,354 Arlington Heights residents head out of town to work, 3,862 work right here, and 34,297 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Arlington Heights.

32,354live here, work elsewhere

3,862live and work here

34,297work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Arlington Heights goes to work

Chicago23.6 mi away

18%6,355

Arlington Heights (in town)right here

11%3,862

Schaumburg7.1 mi away

4%1,565

Elk Grove Village6.4 mi away

3%991

Mount Prospect3.2 mi away

3%978

Rolling Meadows2.7 mi away

2%891

Des Plaines6 mi away

2%891

Glenview8 mi away

2%844

Northbrook7.8 mi away

2%782

Palatine3.5 mi away

2%778

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%18,279

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Arlington Heights commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

49%

41%

49%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Arlington Heights is balanced between jobs and homes

1.05jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Arlington Heights are

38,159 jobs are based in Arlington Heights. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Arlington Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Arlington Heights

38,159 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Arlington Heights residents hold

36,216 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month71%

−2%

Jobs based in Arlington Heights, 2013 → 2023: 38,961 → 38,159. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.