Chain-O-Lakes has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
There are 60 jobs in Chain-O-Lakes for 369 working residents. Hardly any work in Chain-O-Lakes itself; outside it, South Bend draws the most (35%, 6 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 17 minutes; Indiana averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Chain-O-Lakes apart
Chain-O-Lakes is a place people come home to
There are 60 jobs based in Chain-O-Lakes, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Chain-O-Lakes has about 180 people in it, 63% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Chain-O-Lakes and South Bend trade workers both ways
South Bend is the top workplace for Chain-O-Lakes residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Chain-O-Lakes come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Chain-O-Lakes are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 369 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who commutes out of Chain-O-Lakes, and who commutes in
On a workday 366 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.
About 180 people are in Chain-O-Lakes on a workday afternoon, 63% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Chain-O-Lakes goes to work
Where Chain-O-Lakes clocks in
35% of workers
12% 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.
Each way, about 17 minutes from Chain-O-Lakes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chain-O-Lakes workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 157 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Chain-O-Lakes
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chain-O-Lakes, 2014 → 2024: 56 → 60. 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 Chain-O-Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Chain-O-Lakes’ workers travel
About 15% 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.
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 Chain-O-Lakes: questions
What is the median household income in Chain-O-Lakes?
$88,018 (±$33,027) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chain-O-Lakes?
5.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chain-O-Lakes?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chain-O-Lakes work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Bend (35%, 6 mi), Mishawaka (12%, 12 mi), Elkhart (5%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Chain-O-Lakes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chain-O-Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chain-O-Lakes
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.