Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger Depot · Photo: Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Deerfield earn more than those in 98% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 2.8% of residents, next to 11.8% for Illinois as a whole. Jobs and income earn Deerfield A+; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Deerfield apart on work
Deerfield is where the jobs are
Deerfield has 17,949 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 30,000 people are in town, 52% more than the 20,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Deerfield’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Deerfield is Chicago, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (2,098) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Deerfield
29% of Deerfield workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Deerfield pay over $40,000 a year
78% of the jobs based in Deerfield pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Deerfield draws workers from far and wide
The 17,949 jobs in Deerfield are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 33%; 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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Deerfield
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Deerfield is among the top U.S. towns, #10 of 768 in Illinois. Household income is its strongest input ($181,660, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Deerfield stays A+.
Who works in Deerfield, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 7,261 residents head out to work, 572 work right here, and 17,377 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30,000 people are in Deerfield on a workday afternoon, 52% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Deerfield’s workers travel
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.
Each way, about 28 minutes from Deerfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Deerfield workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,971 commuters (the 29% 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.
78% of the jobs in Deerfield pay over $3,333 a month
17,949 jobs are based in Deerfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Deerfield, 2013 → 2023: 22,955 → 17,949. 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 Deerfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Deerfield: where workers come from
Where Deerfield clocks in
27% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
In Deerfield, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Deerfield is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #79 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Deerfield 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 9,756 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, <1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 6.7% of Deerfield households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Deerfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,860 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000, Deerfield comes 10th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lower Moreland Township PA | 14,116 | $154K | 2.6% | 2.0% | 6% | A+ |
| 9 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 10 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| 11 | Hudson OH | 23,085 | $171K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 14% | A+ |
| 12 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Geneva IL | 21,138 | $144K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Deerfield, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bordering towns draw 12% of Deerfield’s workers
The biggest share goes to Northbrook (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Deerfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deerfield | – | A+ | A | 28 min | $181,660 |
| Highland Park | 4% | A+ | A+ | 28 min | $168,094 |
| Northbrook | 6% | A+ | A+ | 27 min | $157,782 |
| Riverwoods | under 2% | A+ | A | 34 min | $249,205 |
| Bannockburn | 2% | A+ | A+ | 22 min | $214,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Deerfield’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 Deerfield: questions
What is the median household income in Deerfield?
$181,660 (±$22,596) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Deerfield?
2.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Deerfield?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Deerfield work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (27%, 24 mi), Northbrook (6%, 3 mi), Highland Park (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Deerfield walkable?
Deerfield is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Deerfield without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. <1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Deerfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Deerfield
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.