Work & commute · Shields

Work & commute in Shields, IL

Most working residents leave Shields for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (26%), Lake Forest (7%) and North Chicago (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

1,529 of 12,116 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

30%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,587 Shields residents head out of town to work, 1,529 work right here, and 16,387 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Shields.

10,587live here, work elsewhere

1,529live and work here

16,387work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Shields goes to work

Chicago32.2 mi away

26%3,106

Lake Forest3.4 mi away

7%835

North Chicago2.3 mi away

4%502

Waukegan5.9 mi away

4%456

Lake Bluff0.5 mi away

3%368

Libertyville4.3 mi away

3%305

Evanston18.5 mi away

2%269

Northbrook10.8 mi away

2%217

Highland Park7.5 mi away

2%216

Libertyville5.4 mi away

2%206

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%5,636

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

How far

How far Shields commutes

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

35%

24%

33%

35%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

33%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Shields is balanced between jobs and homes

1.48jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Shields are

17,916 jobs are based in Shields. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Shields’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Shields

17,916 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Shields residents hold

12,116 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+3%

Jobs based in Shields, 2013 → 2023: 17,427 → 17,916. 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.