Work & commute · Lake Forest

Work & commute in Lake Forest, IL

Most working residents leave Lake Forest for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (26%), Libertyville (4%) and North Chicago (2%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

911 of 7,414 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

30%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,503 Lake Forest residents head out of town to work, 911 work right here, and 12,444 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake Forest.

6,503live here, work elsewhere

911live and work here

12,444work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake Forest goes to work

Chicago28.9 mi away

26%1,926

Lake Forest (in town)right here

12%911

Libertyville5.6 mi away

4%309

North Chicago5.6 mi away

2%162

Evanston15.5 mi away

2%160

Northbrook7.5 mi away

2%160

Deerfield4.8 mi away

2%139

Highland Park4.4 mi away

2%138

Glenview10.5 mi away

2%137

Libertyville6.5 mi away

2%126

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%3,246

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

How far

How far Lake Forest commutes

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

40%

26%

29%

40%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

29%25–50 mi

6%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake Forest is a job hub

1.80jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake Forest are

13,355 jobs are based in Lake Forest. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lake Forest

13,355 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs Lake Forest residents hold

7,414 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+13%

Jobs based in Lake Forest, 2013 → 2023: 11,802 → 13,355. 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.