Work & commute · Aurora

Work & commute in Aurora, IL

Most working residents leave Aurora for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (13%), Naperville (9%) and Batavia (3%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

13,168 of 80,247 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 67,079 Aurora residents head out of town to work, 13,168 work right here, and 46,781 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Aurora.

67,079live here, work elsewhere

13,168live and work here

46,781work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Aurora goes to work

Aurora (in town)right here

16%13,168

Chicago31.6 mi away

13%10,187

Naperville6.7 mi away

9%6,985

Batavia5.9 mi away

3%2,097

Downers Grove14 mi away

2%1,542

St. Charles10.8 mi away

2%1,492

Bolingbrook10.8 mi away

2%1,466

Schaumburg21.1 mi away

2%1,457

Geneva8.5 mi away

2%1,410

West Chicago9.8 mi away

2%1,338

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%39,105

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

How far

How far Aurora commutes

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

41%

28%

26%

41%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Aurora is a commuter town

0.75jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.75 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Aurora are

59,949 jobs are based in Aurora. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Aurora’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Aurora

59,949 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Aurora residents hold

80,247 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+5%

Jobs based in Aurora, 2013 → 2023: 57,298 → 59,949. 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.