Work & commute · Gary

Work & commute in Gary, IN

Most working residents leave Gary for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Merrillville (8%), Chicago (7%) and Hammond (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

3,869 of 22,043 working residents

Typical commute

10 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 18,174 Gary residents head out of town to work, 3,869 work right here, and 18,792 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gary.

18,174live here, work elsewhere

3,869live and work here

18,792work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gary goes to work

Gary (in town)right here

18%3,869

Merrillville8.3 mi away

8%1,706

Chicago, IL24.4 mi away

7%1,600

Hammond7.9 mi away

7%1,565

Hobart6.5 mi away

5%1,007

East Chicago6.8 mi away

4%895

Portage8.7 mi away

4%829

Crown Point12.5 mi away

3%687

Highland6.5 mi away

3%557

Munster8.7 mi away

2%477

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%8,851

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

How far

How far Gary commutes

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

51%

21%

12%

16%

51%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gary is balanced between jobs and homes

1.03jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.03 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Gary are

22,661 jobs are based in Gary. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gary’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Gary

22,661 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)41%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month69%

Jobs Gary residents hold

22,043 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month41%

−30%

Jobs based in Gary, 2013 → 2023: 32,233 → 22,661. 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.