Work & commute · Lake Bluff

Work & commute in Lake Bluff, IL

Most working residents leave Lake Bluff for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (26%), Lake Forest (7%) and Libertyville (4%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

179 of 2,428 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

34%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,249 Lake Bluff residents head out of town to work, 179 work right here, and 3,014 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake Bluff.

2,249live here, work elsewhere

179live and work here

3,014work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake Bluff goes to work

Chicago32 mi away

26%639

Lake Bluff (in town)right here

7%179

Lake Forest3.3 mi away

7%163

Libertyville4.7 mi away

4%105

North Chicago2.4 mi away

4%85

Waukegan6.1 mi away

2%57

Glenview13.7 mi away

2%52

Libertyville5.8 mi away

2%50

Deerfield8.1 mi away

2%49

Evanston18.2 mi away

2%45

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%1,004

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

How far

How far Lake Bluff commutes

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

42%

23%

30%

42%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

30%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake Bluff is balanced between jobs and homes

1.32jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake Bluff are

3,193 jobs are based in Lake Bluff. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Bluff’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lake Bluff

3,193 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Lake Bluff residents hold

2,428 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month76%

−40%

Jobs based in Lake Bluff, 2013 → 2023: 5,305 → 3,193. 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.