Work & commute · Island Lake

Work & commute in Island Lake, IL

Most working residents leave Island Lake for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (10%), Wauconda (6%) and Crystal Lake (5%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

84 of 3,868 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,784 Island Lake residents head out of town to work, 84 work right here, and 646 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Island Lake.

3,784live here, work elsewhere

84live and work here

646work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Island Lake goes to work

Chicago40.4 mi away

10%385

Wauconda3.3 mi away

6%229

Crystal Lake7.5 mi away

5%187

Lake Zurich8.2 mi away

4%153

McHenry6.1 mi away

3%134

Schaumburg18.3 mi away

2%88

Island Lake (in town)right here

2%84

Cary5.2 mi away

2%80

Vernon Hills12.6 mi away

2%69

Arlington Heights16.8 mi away

2%66

Everywhere elseother towns and states

62%2,393

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

How far

How far Island Lake commutes

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

34%

36%

24%

34%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Island Lake is a commuter town

0.19jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Island Lake are

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

Jobs based in Island Lake

730 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Island Lake residents hold

3,868 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+10%

Jobs based in Island Lake, 2013 → 2023: 663 → 730. 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.