Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Braidwood has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 736 jobs in Braidwood, and 3,103 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Braidwood are B+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Braidwood: the gist
The better-paid jobs are outside Braidwood
63% of Braidwood residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Braidwood pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Braidwood is a place people come home to
There are 736 jobs based in Braidwood, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Braidwood has about 3,900 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Braidwood workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Braidwood pay little
29% of the jobs based in Braidwood pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Braidwood
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Braidwood is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #299 of 768 in Illinois. Unemployment is its strongest input (2.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($82,202, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Braidwood could be anywhere from B− to A.
The kinds of work in Braidwood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Braidwood, 2013 → 2023: 719 → 736. 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 Braidwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Braidwood: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,939 residents head out to work, 164 work right here, and 572 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Braidwood on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
How long Braidwood spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Braidwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,905 commuters (the 4% 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.
11% of working residents work in Joliet
Where Braidwood clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
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.
Miles to work from Braidwood
About 19% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Driving is how Braidwood gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Braidwood is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #674 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Braidwood 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 3,021 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 6.8% of Braidwood households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Braidwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Braidwood ranks: 964th of 3,297 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| 13 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 962 | Charlestown RI | 8,002 | $109K | 4.2% | 4.1% | 9% | B+ |
| 963 | El Granada CA | 5,232 | $213K | 5.4% | 6.6% | 5% | B+ |
| 964 | Braidwood IL | 6,259 | $82K | 7.3% | 2.5% | 5% | B+ |
| 965 | York Township IN | 4,400 | $79K | 6.3% | 2.8% | 10% | B+ |
| 966 | Waimanalo Beach HI | 4,505 | $127K | 6.8% | 4.4% | 0% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,297 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Braidwood, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Braidwood compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Coal City (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Braidwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braidwood | – | B+ | C | 29 min | $82,202 |
| Diamond | under 2% | B+ | C | 26 min | $73,201 |
| Braceville | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Coal City | 2% | B | B | 27 min | $72,857 |
| Reed Township | under 2% | B+ | C | 31 min | $82,398 |
Same-state neighbors only. Braceville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Braidwood’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 Braidwood: questions
What is the median household income in Braidwood?
$82,202 (±$16,084) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Braidwood?
7.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Braidwood?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Braidwood work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joliet (11%, 18 mi), Chicago (9%, 48 mi), Wilmington (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Braidwood walkable?
Braidwood is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Braidwood without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Braidwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Braidwood
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.