Commuting Between Milwaukee and Chicago
Rail and highway options for living on one side of the state line and working on the other.
Beatrice Yunck, Real Estate Consultant, Queen Bea Realty Group
Wisconsin license 98118-94 · Illinois license 475.210497 · 4 years in the area
Speaks: English, Po polsku, Deutsch, Español
Kenosha to Chicago on Metra
Kenosha is the northern end of Metra’s Union Pacific North (UP-N) line. Trains to Ogilvie Transportation Center take about 1 hour 32–42 minutes, with 10 inbound trains on weekdays and 8 on weekends.
Source: Metra timetables (October 2026)
Milwaukee to Chicago on the Amtrak Hiawatha
The Amtrak Hiawatha runs between Milwaukee and Chicago Union Station in about 1 hour 29 minutes, with 7 round trips a day (6 on Sundays). It stops at Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Milwaukee Airport, Sturtevant, Glenview and Chicago.
Source: Amtrak Hiawatha
Driving I-94 at rush hour
No agency publishes average drive times for the corridor, so these are typical off-peak estimates. Allow extra time at rush hour.
- Milwaukee to the Chicago Loop: about 1 hr 30 min off-peak, often 2 hours or more at peak
- Kenosha to Uline (Pleasant Prairie): about 15 min
- Kenosha to Abbott Park: about 30 min
- Lake Forest to Abbott Park: about 15 min
- Racine to SC Johnson: about 10 min
- Wauwatosa to downtown Milwaukee: about 15 min
- Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee: about 20 min
- Mequon to downtown Milwaukee: about 25 min
Living between Milwaukee and Chicago
20,931 Kenosha County residents commuted to Illinois for work — about 27% of employed residents.
Source: Kenosha Area Business Alliance, Look at our Labor Force (2022)
Milwaukee airport vs. O’Hare for international flights
Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE) has mostly domestic nonstop flights; international service is limited, such as Air Canada to Toronto and seasonal flights to Mexico and the Caribbean.
O’Hare is the region’s long-haul international hub. Off-peak, it’s about 1 hour 15 minutes by car from downtown Milwaukee, about 50 minutes from Kenosha and about 30 minutes from Lake Forest. The Hiawatha stops at Milwaukee’s airport, but not at O’Hare.
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Includes: Commute time estimator to major employers
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