Work & commute · South Elgin

Work & commute in South Elgin, IL

Most working residents leave South Elgin for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Elgin (14%), Chicago (10%) and St. Charles (6%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

526 of 11,886 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 11,360 South Elgin residents head out of town to work, 526 work right here, and 6,654 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Elgin.

11,360live here, work elsewhere

526live and work here

6,654work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Elgin goes to work

Elgin3.4 mi away

14%1,691

Chicago34 mi away

10%1,191

St. Charles4.9 mi away

6%712

Schaumburg12.1 mi away

4%528

South Elgin (in town)right here

4%526

Geneva7.5 mi away

3%304

Bartlett7.3 mi away

2%239

Elk Grove Village16.6 mi away

2%222

Batavia9.9 mi away

2%207

Naperville18.4 mi away

2%205

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%6,061

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

How far

How far South Elgin commutes

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

38%

39%

19%

38%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Elgin is a commuter town

0.60jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Elgin are

7,180 jobs are based in South Elgin. Here is what they are, next to the jobs South Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in South Elgin

7,180 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)38%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)36%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs South Elgin residents hold

11,886 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+24%

Jobs based in South Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 5,801 → 7,180. 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.