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Work & commute in Winfield · A commuter town

96% of Winfield’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Winfield for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Crown Point (14%), Merrillville (9%) and Chicago (8%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Work in town
4%
243 of 6,124 working residents
Typical commute
14 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
35 min
More than IN (24 min)
Work from home
14%
More than IN (11%)
Jobs based here
1,570
A commuter town
Work out of state
15%
mostly Illinois

What kind of work town is Winfield?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

14% of working residents work in Crown Point

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Chicago: 496 residents work here (8%)LowellMunster: 185 residents work here (3%)Winfield: 188 residents work here (3%)Valparaiso: 296 residents work here (5%)Portage: 184 residents work here (3%)Hammond: 185 residents work here (3%)Hobart: 291 residents work here (5%)Crown Point: 830 residents work here (14%)Merrillville: 552 residents work here (9%)Gary: 315 residents work here (5%)BooneCenterRossPorterEagle CreekWinfieldLakes of the Four SeasonsCrown PointMerrillvilleChicagoGaryValparaisoHobartWinfield
1
Crown Point5.1 mi away
14%830
2
Merrillville6.8 mi away
9%552
3
Chicago, IL38.2 mi away
8%496
4
Gary14.9 mi away
5%315
5
Valparaiso12.2 mi away
5%296
6
Hobart8.8 mi away
5%291
7
Winfield1.8 mi away
3%188
8
Munster17 mi away
3%185
9
Hammond20.3 mi away
3%185
10
Portage14.4 mi away
3%184
Everywhere elseother towns and states
42%2,602
The top trips

Where Winfield clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

1,570 jobs are based in Winfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Winfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in WinfieldJobs Winfield residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms4%22%
Trade, transport & utilities13%19%
Services: health, schools, offices83%59%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less24%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month36%20%
Over $3,333 a month39%67%

Who does it

29 or younger31%20%
30 to 5448%55%
55 and older21%24%
+30%

Jobs based in Winfield, 2013 → 2023: 1,204 → 1,570. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 35 minutes each way, longer than most of Indiana

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
271 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Winfield35 min
Indiana24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
14%

of Winfield workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Winfield ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Winfield quiets down on a workday

On a workday 5,881 residents head out to work, 243 work right here, and 1,327 people come in from elsewhere.

5,881live here, work elsewhere
243live and work here
1,327work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night14,000
Workday9,000
14,000live here− 5,900head out to work+ 1,300come in to work= 9,000on a workday

About 9,000 people are in Winfield on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.26jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Winfield commutes less than 14 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi45 miCrown Point: 14% · 5.1 miMerrillville: 9% · 6.8 miChicago: 8% · 38.2 miGary: 5% · 14.9 miValparaiso: 5% · 12.2 miHobart: 5% · 8.8 miWinfield: 3% · 1.8 miMunster: 3% · 17 miHammond: 3% · 20.3 miPortage: 3% · 14.4 miCrown Point 14%Merrillville 9%Chicago 8%Gary 5%Valparaiso 5%Winfield
WinfieldTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi2,090 residents
36%10–24 mi2,190 residents
16%25–50 mi979 residents
14%Over 50 mi859 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Winfield and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Merrillville (9%). Darker towns draw more of Winfield’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Winfield

Winfield home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Winfield, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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