Every workday, about 24,000 people come to Geneva for work
Most working residents leave Geneva for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (13%), Geneva (12%) and St. Charles (7%). Half commute less than 13 miles.
What kind of work town is Geneva?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
About 28 minutes each way, about the IL average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Geneva workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
What the 25,820 jobs in Geneva are
25,820 jobs are based in Geneva. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Geneva’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Geneva, 2013 → 2023: 19,377 → 25,820. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Geneva fills up on a workday
On a workday 10,818 residents head out to work, 1,903 work right here, and 23,917 people come in from elsewhere.
About 39,000 people are in Geneva on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Geneva’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Geneva clocks in
13% of workers
12% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Geneva commutes less than 13 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
14% of Geneva works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to St. Charles (7%). Darker towns draw more of Geneva’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
- Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
More of Geneva
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Geneva, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.