Work & commute · Dakota

Work & commute in Dakota, IL

Most working residents leave Dakota for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Freeport (14%), Rockford (10%) and Monroe (4%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

21 of 359 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 338 Dakota residents head out of town to work, 21 work right here, and 724 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dakota.

338live here, work elsewhere

21live and work here

724work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dakota goes to work

Freeport10 mi away

14%49

Rockford26.9 mi away

10%36

Monroe, WI13.6 mi away

4%16

Loves Park28.4 mi away

4%13

Chicago103.4 mi away

3%12

Dakota (in town)right here

3%11

Dakota2.3 mi away

3%10

Rock Run4.5 mi away

2%8

Silver Creek12.1 mi away

2%7

Davis6.7 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%191

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

How far

How far Dakota commutes

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

25%

28%

17%

30%

25%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dakota is a job hub

2.08jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Dakota are

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

Jobs based in Dakota

745 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)80%

Trade, transport & utilities3%

Services (health, schools, offices…)16%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Dakota residents hold

359 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+42%

Jobs based in Dakota, 2013 → 2023: 524 → 745. 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.