Work & commute · Waukegan

Work & commute in Waukegan, IL

Most working residents leave Waukegan for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (8%), Gurnee (6%) and North Chicago (4%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

5,215 of 32,354 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 27,139 Waukegan residents head out of town to work, 5,215 work right here, and 23,082 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waukegan.

27,139live here, work elsewhere

5,215live and work here

23,082work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waukegan goes to work

Waukegan (in town)right here

16%5,215

Chicago38 mi away

8%2,720

Gurnee3.4 mi away

6%2,047

North Chicago3.7 mi away

4%1,228

Libertyville7.6 mi away

3%931

Mundelein10 mi away

3%847

Pleasant Prairie, WI10.9 mi away

3%831

Vernon Hills10.4 mi away

2%728

Kenosha, WI15.1 mi away

2%676

Libertyville7 mi away

2%671

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%16,460

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

How far

How far Waukegan commutes

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

41%

31%

21%

41%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waukegan is balanced between jobs and homes

0.87jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Waukegan are

28,297 jobs are based in Waukegan. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waukegan’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waukegan

28,297 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Waukegan residents hold

32,354 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−17%

Jobs based in Waukegan, 2013 → 2023: 33,968 → 28,297. 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.