Work & commute · Cary

Work & commute in Cary, IL

Most working residents leave Cary for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (13%), Crystal Lake (7%) and Schaumburg (4%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

765 of 9,120 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,355 Cary residents head out of town to work, 765 work right here, and 5,854 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cary.

8,355live here, work elsewhere

765live and work here

5,854work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cary goes to work

Chicago38.9 mi away

13%1,142

Cary (in town)right here

8%765

Crystal Lake4.5 mi away

7%599

Schaumburg15.3 mi away

4%400

Elgin12.6 mi away

3%292

Palatine12.5 mi away

2%177

McHenry8.8 mi away

2%172

Barrington7.5 mi away

2%165

Arlington Heights15.9 mi away

2%152

Rolling Meadows15 mi away

2%151

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%5,105

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

How far

How far Cary commutes

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

32%

38%

26%

32%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cary is a commuter town

0.73jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Cary are

6,619 jobs are based in Cary. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cary’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cary

6,619 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Cary residents hold

9,120 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+28%

Jobs based in Cary, 2013 → 2023: 5,179 → 6,619. 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.