JUNE 25, 2020

WE WORK AND MOVE AS ONE REGION

Our region’s economy is inter-connected, with individual communities part of a larger economic ecosystem. As state and local governments determine how to safely reopen workplaces through the Restore Illinois plan, data can provide context on where our residents live and work in order to make safe, informed decisions.

Movement occurs across jurisdictional boundaries Prior to the stay-at-home orders, most workers in the Chicago region (56 percent) commuted across county boundaries every day, knitting our communities together into a metropolitan economy. This figure is significantly higher for the region’s collar counties. While 36.5 percent of Chicago residents ‘reverse commute’ out of the city, two-thirds of residents each in Will County (69.1 percent), McHenry County (67.7 percent), and Kane and Kendall counties (65.8 percent) cross these boundaries to work. Roughly one in ten regional workers (9.1 percent) also commutes in to the seven-county Chicago region from other areas like Wisconsin and Indiana, and exurban Grundy, Kankakee, and DeKalb counties.

The pre-pandemic charts below show the flows of residents from their home (on the left) to their workplace (on the right) and back again. While we strive to build places where residents can live, work, and play within their local community, the bulk of economic activity occurs across county boundaries creating a regional labor market.

1 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Commuting into and out of the City of Chicago. One in four regional workers moved between the City of Chicago and the suburbs for work, including 14 percent who commuted into the city and 10 percent who “reverse commute” out.

2 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Suburban commutes. A significant share of workers also flowed across suburban areas— 57 percent of regional workers commuted among suburban Cook and the collar counties.

3 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning All commute flows in the Chicago region reveal a single, unified labor market.

4 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Cross jurisdictional commutes. All together, most of metropolitan Chicago’s workers, 56 percent, commuted across major local boundaries, including almost one in ten workers who came from areas outside the region like Indiana, Wisconsin, and exurban counties.

Source: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning analysis of U.S. Census Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data, 2014.

5 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Our industries are located across the region Despite our economy’s metropolitan breadth, assumptions of where different industries are located can often over-simplify the diversity and distribution of economic activity across the region.

The table below shows a simple breakdown of jobs across the region in 2019. Some areas have a particularly high share of jobs in certain sectors—for example, professional and business services in the City of Chicago’s central business district and adjoining neighborhoods. However, communities throughout the region have a broad mix of basic, consumer, and business services as well as goods production. And these businesses rely on regional networks for customers, suppliers, capital, ideas, and other resources as well as regional talent pools. Collaboration across communities can strengthen economic gains for public expenditures and support both local and regional goals. Innovative, shared efforts are even more important during more difficult business conditions.

Extended Rest of Suburban DuPage Kane Kendall Lake McHenry Will CMAP CBD** City of Cook County County County County County County region Chicago Basic services 115,393 259,605 390,810 192,943 57,046 6,517 78,773 24,650 85,411 1,211,148 Healthcare, social (18.6%) (44.5%) (36.3%) (34.5%) (31.9%) (28.4%) (27.0%) (30.7%) (41.0%) (33.4%) services, education, utilities, wholesale trade, transportation, construction

Consumer services 105,944 136,868 260,093 108,231 42,842 8,631 71,686 23,581 55,360 813,236 Accommodation, (17.1%) (23.5%) (24.2%) (19.3%) (24.1%) (37.7%) (24.5%) (29.4%) (26.6%) (22.5%) entertainment, food services, retail, art, recreation

Business services 357,779 104,075 262,978 182,212 40,075 3,324 78,837 14,040 35,101 1,078,421 Professional services, (57.7%) (17.8%) (24.5%) (32.5%) (22.4%) (14.5%) (27.0%) (17.5%) (16.8%) (29.8%) IT, finance, insurance, administrative and support services, real estate, management

Goods production 8,968 55,966 120,685 57,511 32,038 3,272 53,786 14,673 22,532 369,431 Manufacturing, oil (1.4%) (9.6%) (11.2%) (10.3%) (17.9%) (14.3%) (18.4%) (18.3%) (10.8%) (10.2%) and gas, agriculture, mining, forestry

Other 31,907 26,998 40,769 18,973 6,560 1,172 9,200 3,375 9,958 148,912 (5.2%) (4.6%) (3.8%) (3.4%) (3.7%) (5.1%) (3.1%) (4.1%) (4.8%) (4.1%)

Total 619,991 583,512 1,075,335 559,870 178,561 22,917 292,282 80,319 208,362 3,621,149 (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%)

Note: The extended central business district is generally bound by Roosevelt Rd, Ashland Ave, North Ave, and Lake Michigan.

Source: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning analysis of IDES Where Workers Work, March 2019 and Economic Modeling Specialists International data (Emsi 2020.2).

6 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Resilience and recovery for our whole region Regional commute patterns underscore how the region’s economy is tightly inter-connected. In responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and subsequent economic downturn, metropolitan Chicago will need to consider these underlying connections and develop region- wide solutions. This approach should emphasize rebuilding community capacity, increasing the resilience of affected communities, and ensuring continuity toward long-standing community and economic development objectives. Doing so means rethinking strategies to address underlying problems that have contributed to the crisis in the first place and working together as one economic unit.

7 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning 312-454-0400 Visit the online version at cmap.is/2O14ZzS [email protected] www.cmap.illinois.gov

8 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning