Work & commute · Kankakee

Work & commute in Kankakee, IN

Most working residents leave Kankakee for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Valparaiso (10%), Wheatfield (5%) and DeMotte (5%). Half commute less than 26 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

7 of 403 working residents

Typical commute

26 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

39 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 396 Kankakee residents head out of town to work, 7 work right here, and 447 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kankakee.

396live here, work elsewhere

7live and work here

447work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kankakee goes to work

Valparaiso19.2 mi away

10%39

Wheatfield6.3 mi away

5%21

DeMotte10.4 mi away

5%19

Crown Point23 mi away

5%19

Rensselaer19.4 mi away

4%15

Gary32.3 mi away

3%13

Merrillville24.9 mi away

3%12

Hammond38.6 mi away

2%10

Portage28.2 mi away

2%9

Lafayette56.1 mi away

2%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%237

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

How far

How far Kankakee commutes

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

10%

37%

29%

23%

10%Under 10 mi

37%10–24 mi

29%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kankakee is balanced between jobs and homes

1.13jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Kankakee are

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

Jobs based in Kankakee

454 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities56%

Services (health, schools, offices…)7%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month8%

Over $3,333 a month87%

Jobs Kankakee residents hold

403 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−69%

Jobs based in Kankakee, 2013 → 2023: 1,473 → 454. 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.