Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0At 11.3%, unemployment in Willowbrook is higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 9% of workers; California has 17%. The two grades for Willowbrook are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Only 2% work in Willowbrook; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (26%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Willowbrook in brief
Jobs in Willowbrook have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Willowbrook went from 2,024 in 2013 to 4,538 in 2023, +124%. The jobs ↓
Willowbrook and Los Angeles trade workers both ways
Los Angeles is the top workplace for Willowbrook residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Willowbrook come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Willowbrook’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 33 minutes, longer than the California average of 29. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Willowbrook pay better than its residents’ jobs
70% of the jobs based in Willowbrook pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 54% of the jobs Willowbrook residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Willowbrook. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Willowbrook
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Willowbrook is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #629 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Willowbrook’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Willowbrook could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
4,538 jobs are based in Willowbrook.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Willowbrook, 2013 → 2023: 2,024 → 4,538. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Willowbrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Willowbrook goes to work
Where Willowbrook clocks in
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Willowbrook: about 33 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Willowbrook workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,180 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Willowbrook quiets down on a workday
On a workday 8,608 residents head out to work, 202 work right here, and 4,336 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Willowbrook on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.52 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Miles to work from Willowbrook
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Willowbrook is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,028 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 76% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 16.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.3% of Willowbrook households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Willowbrook’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Willowbrook is 1,423rd of 1,787 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 29,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 161 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,421 | Wimauma FL | 15,266 | $68K | 23.6% | 4.1% | 2% | C |
| 1,422 | Cocoa FL | 19,777 | $63K | 13.1% | 5.6% | 9% | C |
| 1,423 | Willowbrook CA | 21,681 | $63K | 18.3% | 11.3% | 2% | C |
| 1,424 | Huntington IN | 17,167 | $57K | 15.0% | 4.6% | 33% | C |
| 1,425 | Kingston NY | 23,942 | $68K | 17.6% | 5.4% | 27% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,787 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Willowbrook, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 30% of Willowbrook
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Willowbrook workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willowbrook | – | C | A | 33 min | $62,582 |
| Compton | 4% | C+ | A | 31 min | $78,465 |
| Los Angeles | 26% | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
| Lynwood | under 2% | C+ | A | 30 min | $74,844 |
| West Rancho Dominguez | under 2% | B− | A | 31 min | $86,834 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Los Angeles. Darker towns draw more of Willowbrook’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Willowbrook: questions
What is the median household income in Willowbrook?
$62,582 (±$13,283) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Willowbrook?
18.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Willowbrook?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Willowbrook work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (26%, 12 mi), Long Beach (4%, 10 mi), Compton (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Willowbrook walkable?
Willowbrook is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Willowbrook without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 76% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Willowbrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Willowbrook
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.