Photo: YourJudge · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Buffalo Grove are higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Buffalo Grove grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. 7.2% of residents are in poverty, where Illinois as a whole has 11.8%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Buffalo Grove in brief
Home offices are common in Buffalo Grove
32% of Buffalo Grove workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Buffalo Grove’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Buffalo Grove is Chicago, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (3,505) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Buffalo Grove draws workers from far and wide
The 14,618 jobs in Buffalo Grove are filled from a wide area. Buffalo Grove’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Buffalo Grove’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Buffalo Grove is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #67 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Buffalo Grove could be anywhere from A to A+.
The trip to work from Buffalo Grove: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buffalo Grove workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,239 commuters (the 32% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Buffalo Grove
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
17% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Buffalo Grove clocks in
17% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily commute in and out of Buffalo Grove
On a workday 19,052 residents head out to work, 1,127 work right here, and 13,491 people come in from elsewhere.
About 37,000 people are in Buffalo Grove on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.72 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.
69% of the jobs in Buffalo Grove pay over $3,333 a month
14,618 jobs are based in Buffalo Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buffalo Grove, 2013 → 2023: 15,742 → 14,618. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Buffalo Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Buffalo Grove is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buffalo Grove is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #135 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Buffalo Grove near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 22,447 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 36% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.7% of Buffalo Grove households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Buffalo Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,011 U.S. towns of 30,000 to 58,000, Buffalo Grove comes 90th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Bartlett IL | 40,855 | $133K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | New Lenox Township IL | 45,290 | $133K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Gahanna OH | 35,986 | $109K | 5.6% | 2.6% | 7% | A |
| 89 | Batavia Township IL | 35,974 | $132K | 4.9% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| 90 | Buffalo Grove IL | 42,812 | $129K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 6% | A |
| 91 | Plainfield IL | 50,043 | $144K | 4.2% | 3.8% | 9% | A |
| 92 | Minnetonka MN | 53,969 | $120K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Buffalo Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 11% of Buffalo Grove’s workers
The biggest share goes to Wheeling (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Buffalo Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Grove | – | A | A | 26 min | $129,395 |
| Wheeling | 3% | B+ | A | 26 min | $85,205 |
| Long Grove | under 3% | A+ | A− | 34 min | $250,000+ |
| Lincolnshire | 3% | A+ | A | 26 min | $185,580 |
| Arlington Heights | 3% | A | A | 28 min | $116,723 |
| Vernon Hills | under 3% | A | A− | 27 min | $121,943 |
| Riverwoods | 2% | A+ | A | 34 min | $249,205 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Buffalo Grove’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Buffalo Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Buffalo Grove?
$129,395 (±$8,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buffalo Grove?
7.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buffalo Grove?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buffalo Grove work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (17%, 27 mi), Arlington Heights (3%, 5 mi), Northbrook (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buffalo Grove walkable?
Buffalo Grove is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buffalo Grove without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buffalo Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buffalo Grove
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.