Work & commute · Waterloo

Work & commute in Waterloo, IL

Most working residents leave Waterloo for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are St. Louis (11%), Columbia (5%) and Belleville (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

817 of 5,132 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,315 Waterloo residents head out of town to work, 817 work right here, and 2,402 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterloo.

4,315live here, work elsewhere

817live and work here

2,402work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterloo goes to work

Waterloo (in town)right here

16%817

St. Louis, MO20.9 mi away

11%573

Columbia8.8 mi away

5%241

Belleville14.9 mi away

5%240

Red Bud12.3 mi away

2%98

Chicago274.5 mi away

2%98

Creve Coeur, MO27.2 mi away

2%91

Maryland Heights, MO31.2 mi away

1%72

Chesterfield, MO31.8 mi away

1%71

Edwardsville32.3 mi away

1%68

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%2,763

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

How far

How far Waterloo commutes

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

27%

38%

20%

15%

27%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterloo is a commuter town

0.63jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterloo are

3,219 jobs are based in Waterloo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waterloo

3,219 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs Waterloo residents hold

5,132 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+8%

Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 2,974 → 3,219. 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.