Work & commute · Cortland

Work & commute in Cortland, IL

Most working residents leave Cortland for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are DeKalb (15%), Sycamore (10%) and Aurora (4%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

39 of 1,997 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,958 Cortland residents head out of town to work, 39 work right here, and 961 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cortland.

1,958live here, work elsewhere

39live and work here

961work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cortland goes to work

DeKalb3.1 mi away

15%297

Sycamore4.2 mi away

10%205

Aurora23.8 mi away

4%88

Chicago52.1 mi away

4%88

Geneva18.9 mi away

4%84

St. Charles19.5 mi away

4%84

Batavia20.4 mi away

4%71

Elgin20 mi away

3%62

DeKalb4.2 mi away

2%49

Rockford29.4 mi away

2%42

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%927

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

How far

How far Cortland commutes

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

32%

30%

24%

14%

32%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cortland is a commuter town

0.50jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Cortland are

1,000 jobs are based in Cortland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cortland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cortland

1,000 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)80%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)10%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month80%

Jobs Cortland residents hold

1,997 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+61%

Jobs based in Cortland, 2013 → 2023: 620 → 1,000. 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.