Work & commute · Manhattan

Work & commute in Manhattan, IL

Most working residents leave Manhattan for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (9%), Joliet (8%) and New Lenox (7%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

243 of 5,068 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

38 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,825 Manhattan residents head out of town to work, 243 work right here, and 743 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Manhattan.

4,825live here, work elsewhere

243live and work here

743work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Manhattan goes to work

Chicago32.6 mi away

9%462

Joliet10.9 mi away

8%400

New Lenox6.2 mi away

7%357

Manhattan (in town)right here

5%243

Frankfort8.3 mi away

3%159

Tinley Park13.7 mi away

3%154

Mokena9.3 mi away

3%132

Orland Park14.4 mi away

2%123

New Lenox6.3 mi away

2%78

Naperville24.6 mi away

1%76

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%2,884

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

How far

How far Manhattan commutes

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

27%

38%

28%

27%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Manhattan 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 Manhattan are

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

Jobs based in Manhattan

986 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Manhattan residents hold

5,068 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month69%

−12%

Jobs based in Manhattan, 2013 → 2023: 1,117 → 986. 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.