Work & commute · McHenry

Work & commute in McHenry, IL

Most working residents leave McHenry for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are McHenry (12%), Chicago (9%) and Crystal Lake (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

2,574 of 21,816 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 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 19,242 McHenry residents head out of town to work, 2,574 work right here, and 6,810 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in McHenry.

19,242live here, work elsewhere

2,574live and work here

6,810work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where McHenry goes to work

McHenry2.5 mi away

12%2,670

Chicago47.9 mi away

9%1,862

Crystal Lake10 mi away

4%972

Johnsburg1.9 mi away

3%572

Woodstock9 mi away

3%555

Elgin23.1 mi away

2%419

Schaumburg25.7 mi away

2%391

Lake Zurich15.8 mi away

2%365

Libertyville17.1 mi away

2%360

Wauconda9.9 mi away

2%353

Everywhere elseother towns and states

61%13,297

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

How far

How far McHenry commutes

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

32%

29%

32%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

29%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

McHenry is a commuter town

0.43jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in McHenry are

9,384 jobs are based in McHenry. Here is what they are, next to the jobs McHenry’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in McHenry

9,384 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs McHenry residents hold

21,816 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+0%

Jobs based in McHenry, 2013 → 2023: 9,357 → 9,384. 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.