Photo: LisleLibraryDistrict · CC BY-SA 4.0Lisle draws 21,860 commuters a day, with 2.0 jobs for every working resident
Household incomes here are higher than in 82% of U.S. towns. Employers in Lisle report 22,548 jobs, against 11,203 working residents. Lisle grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Lisle stands out on work
Lisle is where the jobs are
Lisle has 22,548 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 35,000 people are in town, 48% more than the 23,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Lisle pay over $40,000 a year
80% of the jobs based in Lisle pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Lisle draws workers from far and wide
The 22,548 jobs in Lisle are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 35%; the other 62% 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 Lisle’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lisle is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #152 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Lisle could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
In and out of Lisle on a workday
On a workday 10,515 residents head out to work and 688 work right here.
About 35,000 people are in Lisle on a workday afternoon, 48% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
80% of the jobs in Lisle pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lisle, 2013 → 2023: 25,309 → 22,548. 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 Lisle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Lisle: where workers come from
Where Lisle clocks in
20% of workers
9% 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.
About 28 minutes each way for Lisle’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lisle workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,158 commuters (the 21% 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 Lisle
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Lisle
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lisle is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #72 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Lisle 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 12,878 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 13% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 5.3% of Lisle households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 10% of Lisle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lisle is 388th of 1,780 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Geneva IL | 21,138 | $144K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Saugus MA | 29,179 | $102K | 6.0% | 3.8% | 7% | A |
| 387 | Fate TX | 29,007 | $133K | 3.6% | 5.4% | 2% | A |
| 388 | Lisle IL | 23,432 | $107K | 5.9% | 4.2% | 6% | A |
| 389 | Darien CT | 22,583 | $250K | 5.8% | 5.1% | 13% | A |
| 390 | Lake Township OH | 30,523 | $101K | 5.2% | 3.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | 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 Lisle, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 16% of Lisle’s workers
The biggest share goes to Naperville (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lisle workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisle | – | A | A | 28 min | $107,479 |
| Naperville | 9% | A | A | 31 min | $155,105 |
| Downers Grove | 5% | A | A+ | 28 min | $115,114 |
| Woodridge | under 2% | A | A | 30 min | $101,000 |
| Wheaton | 2% | A | A+ | 26 min | $120,008 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lisle’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 Lisle: questions
What is the median household income in Lisle?
$107,479 (±$12,056) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lisle?
5.9%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lisle?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lisle work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (20%, 21 mi), Naperville (9%, 5 mi), Downers Grove (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lisle walkable?
Lisle is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lisle without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 13% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lisle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lisle
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.