Work & commute · Ford Heights

Work & commute in Ford Heights, IL

Most working residents leave Ford Heights for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (29%), Chicago Heights (6%) and Matteson (3%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22 of 752 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 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 730 Ford Heights residents head out of town to work, 22 work right here, and 1,658 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ford Heights.

730live here, work elsewhere

22live and work here

1,658work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ford Heights goes to work

Chicago23.1 mi away

29%219

Chicago Heights2.7 mi away

6%46

Ford Heights (in town)right here

3%22

Matteson8.5 mi away

3%19

Homewood5.3 mi away

2%18

University Park8.1 mi away

2%13

Hazel Crest7 mi away

2%12

Downers Grove30 mi away

1%11

Joliet29.3 mi away

1%11

Glenwood2.6 mi away

1%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%371

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

How far

How far Ford Heights commutes

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

35%

21%

38%

35%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

38%25–50 mi

6%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ford Heights is a job hub

2.23jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ford Heights are

1,680 jobs are based in Ford Heights. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ford Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ford Heights

1,680 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)89%

Trade, transport & utilities3%

Services (health, schools, offices…)8%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month80%

Jobs Ford Heights residents hold

752 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+5%

Jobs based in Ford Heights, 2013 → 2023: 1,595 → 1,680. 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.