Work & commute · Chicago Heights

Work & commute in Chicago Heights, IL

Most working residents leave Chicago Heights for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (23%), Homewood (2%) and Matteson (2%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

947 of 10,753 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,806 Chicago Heights residents head out of town to work, 947 work right here, and 7,366 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chicago Heights.

9,806live here, work elsewhere

947live and work here

7,366work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chicago Heights goes to work

Chicago22.7 mi away

23%2,494

Chicago Heights (in town)right here

9%947

Homewood3.6 mi away

2%259

Matteson5.8 mi away

2%208

South Holland6.3 mi away

2%198

Olympia Fields3.1 mi away

2%195

University Park6 mi away

2%182

Joliet26.6 mi away

2%166

Tinley Park9.7 mi away

1%147

Flossmoor3.3 mi away

1%128

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%5,829

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Chicago Heights commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

37%

26%

30%

37%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

30%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chicago Heights is balanced between jobs and homes

0.77jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Chicago Heights are

8,313 jobs are based in Chicago Heights. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chicago Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chicago Heights

8,313 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Chicago Heights residents hold

10,753 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

−28%

Jobs based in Chicago Heights, 2013 → 2023: 11,578 → 8,313. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.