Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Bellwood has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
3,204 jobs are based in Bellwood for 7,918 working residents. Bellwood grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bellwood at work: what stands out
Bellwood and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Bellwood residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Bellwood come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bellwood makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Bellwood are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bellwood residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. 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.
Inside Bellwood’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bellwood is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #444 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Bellwood’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bellwood could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
30% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Bellwood clocks in
30% of workers
3% 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 place that makes things: 43% of Bellwood’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bellwood, 2013 → 2023: 3,782 → 3,204. 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 Bellwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Bellwood for work, and who comes in
On a workday 7,680 residents head out to work, 238 work right here, and 2,966 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Bellwood on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Bellwood: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bellwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,954 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far Bellwood’s workers travel
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Bellwood
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bellwood is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #65 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Bellwood 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 8,735 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, 80% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 7.0% of Bellwood households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Bellwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,822 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000, Bellwood comes 1,052nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,050 | Fayetteville GA | 20,465 | $82K | 8.1% | 7.4% | 10% | B |
| 1,051 | Santa Fe TX | 13,913 | $99K | 10.4% | 8.5% | 6% | B |
| 1,052 | Bellwood IL | 18,116 | $80K | 11.7% | 6.3% | 3% | B |
| 1,053 | Sandy OR | 13,323 | $109K | 7.8% | 6.0% | 11% | B |
| 1,054 | Glenvar Heights FL | 19,395 | $72K | 12.1% | 4.9% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | 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 Bellwood, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bellwood and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Melrose Park (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bellwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellwood | – | B | A+ | 28 min | $79,513 |
| Hillside | under 2% | A− | A+ | 29 min | $72,320 |
| Berkeley | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 28 min | $85,823 |
| Melrose Park | 3% | B− | A | 27 min | $66,189 |
| Maywood | 3% | C+ | A+ | 34 min | $68,815 |
| Westchester | under 2% | A− | A+ | 27 min | $98,954 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bellwood’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 Bellwood: questions
What is the median household income in Bellwood?
$79,513 (±$10,116) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bellwood?
11.7%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bellwood?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bellwood work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (30%, 10 mi), Melrose Park (3%, 2 mi), Maywood (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bellwood walkable?
Bellwood is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.9 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bellwood without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 80% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bellwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bellwood
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.