Photo: Jacob G. from Chicago, Illinois, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0At 15.4%, unemployment in Calumet Park is among the highest of any U.S. town
Only 2% work in Calumet Park itself; outside it, Chicago draws the most (44%, 12 miles). Jobs and income earn Calumet Park C; getting around on foot earns it A+. Measured by household income, Calumet Park is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Calumet Park, in a few figures
Calumet Park and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Calumet Park residents (44%) and also where the most people who work in Calumet Park come from (29% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Calumet Park workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 39 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois. Over a year that’s about 299 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (29 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Calumet Park is a place people come home to
There are 851 jobs based in Calumet Park, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Calumet Park has about 4,700 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Calumet Park than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Calumet Park fell from 1,183 in 2014 to 851 in 2024, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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.
Where Calumet Park’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Calumet Park is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #628 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Calumet Park’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Calumet Park could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Where Calumet Park goes to work
Where Calumet Park clocks in
44% of workers
2% of workers
1% 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.
About 39 minutes to work from Calumet Park
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Calumet Park workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,475 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.
Calumet Park quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,907 residents head out to work, 52 work right here, and 799 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Calumet Park on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.29 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 2024, primary jobs.
What Calumet Park’s employers do
851 jobs are based in Calumet Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Calumet Park, 2014 → 2024: 1,183 → 851. 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 Calumet Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Calumet Park
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.
Calumet Park is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Calumet Park is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #9 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Calumet Park 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 2,720 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, 77% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 11.7% of Calumet Park households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 15% of Calumet Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Calumet Park is 2,438th of 3,253 U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,100
| # | 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% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| 12 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,436 | Tippecanoe Township IN | 6,630 | $72K | 9.4% | 9.1% | 9% | C |
| 2,437 | Thomson GA | 6,763 | $42K | 28.8% | 0.8% | 14% | C |
| 2,438 | Calumet Park IL | 6,772 | $54K | 14.1% | 15.4% | 2% | C |
| 2,439 | Hillsboro IL | 6,184 | $50K | 11.6% | 2.9% | 27% | C |
| 2,440 | Harrietstown NY | 5,167 | $66K | 16.8% | 2.5% | 33% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Calumet Park, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 45% of Calumet Park’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Calumet Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calumet Park | – | C | A+ | 39 min | $53,556 |
| Blue Island | 1% | C | A+ | 29 min | $59,489 |
| Calumet Township | under 2% | C− | A+ | 33 min | $49,861 |
| Chicago | 44% | B− | A+ | 33 min | $77,902 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chicago. Darker towns draw more of Calumet Park’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 Calumet Park: questions
What is the median household income in Calumet Park?
$53,556 (±$4,314) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Calumet Park?
14.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Calumet Park?
39 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Calumet Park work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (44%, 12 mi), Oak Lawn (2%, 6 mi), Alsip (1%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Calumet Park walkable?
Calumet Park is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Calumet Park without a car?
15% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 77% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Calumet Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Calumet Park
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.