Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Arlington Heights’ household incomes are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago. 6.0% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.8% across Illinois. The two grades for Arlington Heights are A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Arlington Heights, in brief
Arlington Heights trades workers with the towns around it
Arlington Heights has about as many jobs (37,763) as working residents (35,836), but they are mostly different people: 31,992 residents leave for work each day while 33,919 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Arlington Heights are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Arlington Heights and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Arlington Heights residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Arlington Heights come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Arlington Heights
25% of Arlington Heights workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Arlington Heights draws workers from far and wide
The 37,763 jobs in Arlington Heights are filled from a wide area. Arlington Heights’ own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 31%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Arlington Heights gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Arlington Heights is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #93 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arlington Heights could be anywhere from A to A+.
How many people are in Arlington Heights by day
On a workday 31,992 residents head out to work, 3,844 work right here, and 33,919 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Arlington Heights clocks in
17% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Arlington Heights
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arlington Heights workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 28,720 commuters (the 25% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
66% of the jobs in Arlington Heights pay over $3,333 a month
37,763 jobs are based in Arlington Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arlington Heights, 2014 → 2024: 44,031 → 37,763. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Arlington Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Arlington Heights works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Arlington Heights is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arlington Heights is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #111 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Arlington Heights near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 38,324 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 5.3% of Arlington Heights households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Arlington Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Arlington Heights ranks: 40th of 590 U.S. towns of 53,000 to 103,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | New Trier Township IL | 56,118 | $216K | 2.9% | 4.0% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Vernon Township IL | 71,353 | $146K | 6.3% | 2.4% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Wheatland Township IL | 92,693 | $173K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Chapel Hill NC | 63,565 | $86K | 18.6% | 4.5% | 27% | A |
| 39 | Wheaton IL | 54,065 | $120K | 5.6% | 3.7% | 11% | A |
| 40 | Arlington Heights IL | 76,216 | $117K | 6.0% | 3.5% | 11% | A |
| 41 | Grafton Township IL | 58,301 | $131K | 4.4% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| 42 | Livermore CA | 83,457 | $161K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 590 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 50% | 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 Arlington Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Arlington Heights and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Mount Prospect (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arlington Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington Heights | – | A | A | 28 min | $116,723 |
| Prospect Heights | under 3% | A− | B+ | 26 min | $85,008 |
| Mount Prospect | 3% | A | A | 26 min | $101,720 |
| Rolling Meadows | 2% | A− | A− | 26 min | $98,514 |
| Buffalo Grove | under 3% | A | A | 26 min | $129,395 |
| Palatine | 2% | A− | A− | 28 min | $97,819 |
| Wheeling | 2% | B+ | A | 26 min | $85,205 |
| Wheeling Township | under 3% | A | A | 27 min | $106,026 |
| Palatine Township | under 3% | A− | A− | 27 min | $104,916 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arlington Heights’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 2024, 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 Arlington Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Arlington Heights?
$116,723 (±$6,021) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arlington Heights?
6.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arlington Heights?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arlington Heights work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (17%, 24 mi), Schaumburg (4%, 7 mi), Elk Grove Village (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Arlington Heights walkable?
Arlington Heights is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arlington Heights without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arlington Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arlington Heights
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.