Work & commute · Wilmette

Work & commute in Wilmette, IL

Most working residents leave Wilmette for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (42%), Evanston (7%) and Skokie (3%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

824 of 12,227 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

36%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 11,403 Wilmette residents head out of town to work, 824 work right here, and 5,619 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wilmette.

11,403live here, work elsewhere

824live and work here

5,619work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wilmette goes to work

Chicago16.8 mi away

42%5,125

Evanston2.8 mi away

7%868

Wilmette (in town)right here

7%824

Skokie2.9 mi away

3%312

Glenview5.1 mi away

2%284

Winnetka2.1 mi away

2%279

Northbrook6.5 mi away

2%263

Schaumburg18.6 mi away

1%159

Des Plaines9.3 mi away

1%149

Highland Park8.4 mi away

1%148

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%3,816

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

How far

How far Wilmette commutes

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

35%

56%

35%Under 10 mi

56%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wilmette is a commuter town

0.53jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Wilmette are

6,443 jobs are based in Wilmette. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wilmette’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wilmette

6,443 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Wilmette residents hold

12,227 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month75%

−6%

Jobs based in Wilmette, 2013 → 2023: 6,829 → 6,443. 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.