Work & commute · Plainfield

Work & commute in Plainfield, IL

Most working residents leave Plainfield for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (15%), Joliet (9%) and Plainfield (7%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

3,587 of 43,464 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 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 39,877 Plainfield residents head out of town to work, 3,587 work right here, and 12,776 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plainfield.

39,877live here, work elsewhere

3,587live and work here

12,776work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plainfield goes to work

Chicago31.5 mi away

15%6,404

Joliet5.7 mi away

9%3,915

Plainfield2.5 mi away

7%2,974

Naperville11.1 mi away

6%2,561

Bolingbrook8.2 mi away

4%1,861

Romeoville5.7 mi away

3%1,395

Aurora12.8 mi away

3%1,378

Downers Grove16.9 mi away

2%951

Woodridge12.9 mi away

1%598

Schaumburg30.8 mi away

1%559

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%20,868

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

How far

How far Plainfield commutes

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

29%

35%

30%

29%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

30%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plainfield is a commuter town

0.38jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Plainfield are

16,363 jobs are based in Plainfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Plainfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Plainfield

16,363 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Plainfield residents hold

43,464 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+8%

Jobs based in Plainfield, 2013 → 2023: 15,142 → 16,363. 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.