Work & commute · Seward

Work & commute in Seward, IL

Most working residents leave Seward for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Rockford (34%), Pecatonica (9%) and Chicago (4%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

6 of 393 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 387 Seward residents head out of town to work, 6 work right here, and 112 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Seward.

387live here, work elsewhere

6live and work here

112work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Seward goes to work

Rockford14.6 mi away

34%132

Pecatonica4.8 mi away

9%35

Chicago89.8 mi away

4%16

Loves Park19.1 mi away

4%15

Winnebago6.1 mi away

3%11

Belvidere23.6 mi away

2%9

Machesney Park18.7 mi away

2%8

Rockford14 mi away

2%6

Seward (in town)right here

2%6

Elgin54.2 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%150

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

How far

How far Seward commutes

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

17%

48%

28%

17%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Seward is a commuter town

0.30jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Seward are

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

Jobs based in Seward

118 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)85%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)8%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Seward residents hold

393 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+82%

Jobs based in Seward, 2013 → 2023: 65 → 118. 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.