Work & commute · Oak Lawn

Work & commute in Oak Lawn, IL

Most working residents leave Oak Lawn for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (36%), Bedford Park (2%) and Alsip (2%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,819 of 25,323 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 23,504 Oak Lawn residents head out of town to work, 1,819 work right here, and 18,265 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oak Lawn.

23,504live here, work elsewhere

1,819live and work here

18,265work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oak Lawn goes to work

Chicago9.2 mi away

36%9,083

Oak Lawn (in town)right here

7%1,819

Bedford Park3.9 mi away

2%589

Alsip3.1 mi away

2%403

Bridgeview3.3 mi away

1%372

Orland Park9.1 mi away

1%372

Oak Brook13.4 mi away

1%350

Downers Grove14.9 mi away

1%341

Evergreen Park2.7 mi away

1%336

Chicago Ridge1.6 mi away

1%266

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%11,392

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

How far

How far Oak Lawn commutes

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

39%

49%

39%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oak Lawn is balanced between jobs and homes

0.79jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oak Lawn are

20,084 jobs are based in Oak Lawn. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Lawn’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oak Lawn

20,084 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Oak Lawn residents hold

25,323 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month64%

−2%

Jobs based in Oak Lawn, 2013 → 2023: 20,597 → 20,084. 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.