Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Elgin has higher unemployment (6.1%) than 75% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Elgin itself; outside it, Chicago draws the most (11%, 36 miles). Jobs and income earn Elgin B; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.9 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
Where Elgin stands out on work
Elgin trades workers with the towns around it
Elgin has about as many jobs (53,387) as working residents (53,056), but they are mostly different people: 42,540 residents leave for work each day while 42,871 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Elgin are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Elgin’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Elgin is Chicago, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (5,593) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Elgin draws workers from far and wide
The 53,387 jobs in Elgin are filled from a wide area. Elgin’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 23%; the other 57% 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.
The four measures behind Elgin’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elgin is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #381 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Elgin’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elgin could be anywhere from B to B+.
Who leaves Elgin for work, and who comes in
On a workday 42,540 residents head out to work, 10,516 work right here, and 42,871 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 (1.01 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Elgin
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.
The places Elgin commutes to
Where Elgin clocks in
11% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Elgin’s 53,387 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 52,675 → 53,387. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Elgin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49,305 commuters (the 13% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Elgin
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elgin is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #203 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 56,511 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 45% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 5.6% of Elgin households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Elgin’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Out of 362 U.S. towns of 81,000 to 156,000, Elgin comes 164th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Wheatland Township IL | 92,693 | $173K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Naperville IL | 153,114 | $155K | 4.4% | 4.5% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Northfield Township IL | 89,835 | $137K | 7.1% | 3.5% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Suffolk VA | 104,699 | $93K | 9.4% | 5.0% | 22% | B+ |
| 163 | Davie FL | 110,851 | $87K | 11.2% | 5.2% | 10% | B |
| 164 | Elgin IL | 115,476 | $90K | 9.8% | 6.1% | 20% | B |
| 165 | Columbia MO | 130,851 | $66K | 19.3% | 4.0% | 69% | B |
| 166 | Joliet IL | 152,241 | $92K | 11.1% | 5.5% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 362 | Lawton OK | 90,503 | $54K | 21.1% | 8.1% | 55% | 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 Elgin, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Elgin and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to South Elgin (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elgin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elgin | – | B | A | 28 min | $90,282 |
| Campton Hills | under 2% | A | B | 34 min | $209,134 |
| West Dundee | under 2% | A | B+ | 26 min | $105,368 |
| Bartlett | 1% | A+ | B | 30 min | $133,240 |
| Pingree Grove | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $114,294 |
| South Elgin | 2% | A | B+ | 28 min | $127,203 |
| Elgin Township | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Dundee Township | under 2% | A− | B+ | 29 min | $98,089 |
| Gilberts | under 2% | A | C | 29 min | $146,333 |
| Plato Township | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 35 min | $154,851 |
| Hanover Township | under 2% | A− | A− | 30 min | $99,697 |
Same-state neighbors only. Elgin Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elgin’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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$90,282 (±$3,200) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
9.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elgin?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (11%, 36 mi), Schaumburg (5%, 12 mi), St. Charles (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elgin walkable?
Elgin is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 45% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.