Work & commute · St. John

Work & commute in St. John, IN

Most working residents leave St. John for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (9%), Schererville (7%) and Munster (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

5,001 of 30,319 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 25,318 St. John residents head out of town to work, 5,001 work right here, and 15,653 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in St. John.

25,318live here, work elsewhere

5,001live and work here

15,653work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where St. John goes to work

Chicago, IL27.3 mi away

9%2,610

Schererville1.1 mi away

7%2,098

Munster5.2 mi away

6%1,932

St. John2.5 mi away

6%1,676

Hammond9.9 mi away

5%1,608

Merrillville7.4 mi away

5%1,573

Crown Point7.6 mi away

5%1,490

Dyer2.8 mi away

4%1,111

Gary9.8 mi away

3%900

Highland4.7 mi away

3%892

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%14,429

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

How far

How far St. John commutes

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

50%

22%

15%

13%

50%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

St. John is a commuter town

0.68jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in St. John are

20,654 jobs are based in St. John. Here is what they are, next to the jobs St. John’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in St. John

20,654 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less25%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs St. John residents hold

30,319 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+17%

Jobs based in St. John, 2013 → 2023: 17,622 → 20,654. 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.