What is the average commute in Chicago city, Illinois?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 33.1 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Chicago city, Illinois work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 21.0%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.4 percentage points.

Are the 2021 and 2024 commute estimates independent?

No. The five-year periods overlap, so their difference is presented as directional rather than an independent annual or causal change.

PLACE · IL · GEOID 17140002024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Chicago, Illinois

Name: Commute estimates for Chicago city, Illinois
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 33.1 min one way; 21.0% worked from home, 44.7% drove alone, and 13.4% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip33.1 min±0.4 min MOE

Worked from home21.0%±0.4 pp MOE

Drove alone44.7%±0.5 pp MOE

60+ minute trip13.4%among commuters

U.S. Census Bureau ACS estimates for residents age 16+ who work. Commute time excludes people working from home.

01 / THE SHIFT

What changed in Chicago city's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -1.3 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +8.7 percentage points.

These periods overlap: 2021 covers 2017–2021 and 2024 covers 2020–2024. Changes are directional comparisons, not independent annual measurements.

Mean commute34.4 min → 33.1 min▼ 1.3 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home12.3% → 21.0%▲ 8.7 pp

Share of workers age 16+ who usually worked from home.

Public transit23.4% → 17.7%▼ 5.7 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone47.4% → 44.7%▼ 2.7 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Chicago city residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 44.7%; 17.7% used public transit and 21.0% worked from home.

Drive alone44.7% ±0.5 pp

Carpool7.3% ±0.2 pp

Public transit17.7% ±0.4 pp

Walk5.8% ±0.2 pp

Bicycle1.4% ±0.1 pp

Work from home21.0% ±0.4 pp

Each share uses 1,364,366 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Chicago city compares with similar-size places

This place's mean commute is at the 97th percentile among covered 500k+ places; each percentile describes one metric only.

Percentiles are single-metric context, never a “good commute” score.

97^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is higher than about 97% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

74^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is higher than about 74% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

89^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is higher than about 89% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

97^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is higher than about 97% of covered places in the 500k+ population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Chicago city's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 1,364,366 workers age 16+, including 1,078,013 workers with reported travel time and 286,353 home workers.

Population estimate2,711,226± 63 MOE

Workers age 16+1,364,366± 7,536 MOE

Workers with travel time1,078,013± 8,368 MOE

Estimated home workers286,353± 5,691 MOE

Why the ± matters

ACS values are survey estimates. The margin of error is the 90% confidence interval published by the Census Bureau or calculated for a share from published component margins. Small differences can be sampling noise.

05 / SAME STATE

Comparable Illinois commute records for Chicago city

No other Illinois place in the 500k+ population band met the same publication rule in this dataset.

All Illinois reports →