Work & commute · Palos Heights

Work & commute in Palos Heights, IL

Most working residents leave Palos Heights for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (28%), Orland Park (3%) and Oak Lawn (3%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

361 of 5,257 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,896 Palos Heights residents head out of town to work, 361 work right here, and 6,183 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Palos Heights.

4,896live here, work elsewhere

361live and work here

6,183work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Palos Heights goes to work

Chicago13.3 mi away

28%1,460

Palos Heights (in town)right here

7%361

Orland Park5 mi away

3%181

Oak Lawn4.1 mi away

3%149

Alsip3.1 mi away

3%137

Tinley Park6.6 mi away

2%89

Oak Brook14.4 mi away

2%81

Downers Grove14.7 mi away

1%75

Crestwood3.1 mi away

1%72

Bedford Park7.3 mi away

1%68

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%2,584

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

How far

How far Palos Heights commutes

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

38%

49%

38%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Palos Heights is balanced between jobs and homes

1.24jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Palos Heights are

6,544 jobs are based in Palos Heights. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Palos Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Palos Heights

6,544 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Palos Heights residents hold

5,257 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month66%

−21%

Jobs based in Palos Heights, 2013 → 2023: 8,259 → 6,544. 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.