Photo: Cresthilladmin · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Crest Hill (5.5%) is higher than in 68% of U.S. towns
At 28 minutes each way, commutes from Crest Hill run about the Illinois average. For jobs and income Crest Hill is better than 54% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (B+). Only 3% stay in Crest Hill for work; outside it, Chicago is the main destination (17%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Crest Hill at work: what stands out
Crest Hill’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Crest Hill is Chicago, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (1,662) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Crest Hill
63% of Crest Hill residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Crest Hill pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Crest Hill draws workers from far and wide
The 6,302 jobs in Crest Hill are filled from a wide area. Crest Hill’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 40%; the other 55% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Crest Hill
Job access by car holds Crest Hill’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Crest Hill could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Crest Hill
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.
What work there is in Crest Hill: 6,302 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Crest Hill, 2013 → 2023: 6,236 → 6,302. 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 Crest Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Crest Hill to work: where people go
Where Crest Hill clocks in
17% of workers
12% of workers
5% 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 workday in Crest Hill: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 9,212 residents head out to work, 325 work right here, and 5,977 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Crest Hill on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Crest Hill
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Crest Hill workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,672 commuters (the 6% 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.
The commute in Crest Hill is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,249 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% 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). 6.4% of Crest Hill households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Crest Hill’s commuters take a bus or train.
Crest Hill places 1,186th of 1,931 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000
| # | 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 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,184 | Harborcreek Township PA | 16,603 | $87K | 8.5% | 5.4% | 12% | B− |
| 1,185 | Lodi NJ | 26,187 | $89K | 15.4% | 7.0% | 4% | B− |
| 1,186 | Crest Hill IL | 20,695 | $73K | 12.0% | 5.5% | 3% | B− |
| 1,187 | Los Osos CA | 14,166 | $109K | 8.1% | 5.1% | 11% | B− |
| 1,188 | Brigham City UT | 20,633 | $71K | 11.2% | 2.9% | 22% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | 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 Crest Hill, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 16% of Crest Hill’s workers
The biggest share goes to Joliet (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Crest Hill workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crest Hill | – | B− | B+ | 28 min | $73,033 |
| Joliet | 12% | B | B+ | 29 min | $92,201 |
| Sunnyland | under 2% | B+ | C | 30 min | $90,813 |
| Crystal Lawns | under 2% | A | A | 28 min | $82,033 |
| Romeoville | 4% | A− | A− | 32 min | $106,325 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Crest Hill’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 Crest Hill: questions
What is the median household income in Crest Hill?
$73,033 (±$2,592) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Crest Hill?
12.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Crest Hill?
28 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Crest Hill work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (17%, 29 mi), Joliet (12%, 4 mi), Bolingbrook (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Crest Hill walkable?
Crest Hill is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Crest Hill without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Crest Hill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Crest Hill
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.