Work & commute · Palatine

Work & commute in Palatine, IL

Most working residents leave Palatine for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (16%), Schaumburg (6%) and Arlington Heights (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2,672 of 32,853 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 30,181 Palatine residents head out of town to work, 2,672 work right here, and 18,665 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Palatine.

30,181live here, work elsewhere

2,672live and work here

18,665work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Palatine goes to work

Chicago26.7 mi away

16%5,267

Palatine (in town)right here

8%2,672

Schaumburg6.4 mi away

6%1,947

Arlington Heights3.5 mi away

5%1,716

Rolling Meadows3 mi away

3%942

Elk Grove Village8.2 mi away

3%885

Wheeling6.4 mi away

2%683

Glenview11.3 mi away

2%645

Northbrook10.8 mi away

2%640

Des Plaines9.3 mi away

2%566

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%16,890

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

How far

How far Palatine commutes

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

45%

36%

16%

45%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Palatine is a commuter town

0.65jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Palatine are

21,337 jobs are based in Palatine. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Palatine’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Palatine

21,337 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Palatine residents hold

32,853 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−1%

Jobs based in Palatine, 2013 → 2023: 21,460 → 21,337. 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.