Photo: Johnnie Tran · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in DeKalb Township
6% of workers have no commute at all (Illinois 16%). About one in four work in DeKalb Township; the top destination outside it is DeKalb (23%, 1 miles). The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, where Illinois has 28 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: DeKalb Township in brief
DeKalb Township and DeKalb trade workers both ways
DeKalb is the top workplace for DeKalb Township residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in DeKalb Township come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
DeKalb Township trades workers with the towns around it
DeKalb Township has about as many jobs (17,525) as working residents (16,279), but they are mostly different people: 12,018 residents leave for work each day while 13,264 people come in. Only 24% of the jobs in DeKalb Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Commuting out of DeKalb Township: the destinations
Where DeKalb Township clocks in
23% of workers
5% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 12,018 residents head out to work, 4,261 work right here, and 13,264 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in DeKalb Township: 17,525 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in DeKalb Township, 2014 → 2024: 17,966 → 17,525. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs DeKalb Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from DeKalb Township: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of DeKalb Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 19,943 commuters (the 7% 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.
The distance from DeKalb Township to work
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
DeKalb Township and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | DeKalb Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeKalb Township | – | — | — | 24 min | $47,082 |
| Cortland Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 26 min | $99,292 |
| Malta Township | under 2% | B− | C+ | 28 min | $85,469 |
| Afton Township | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Mayfield Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Afton Township and Mayfield Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of DeKalb Township’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 2024, 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 DeKalb Township: questions
What is the median household income in DeKalb Township?
$47,082 (±$3,916) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in DeKalb Township?
25.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from DeKalb Township?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in DeKalb Township work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are DeKalb (23%, 1 mi), Sycamore (9%, 6 mi), Chicago (5%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around DeKalb Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from DeKalb Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of DeKalb Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.