Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 1.9 jobs in Elwood for every working resident, and 2,322 people commute in
There are 2,357 jobs in Elwood for 1,244 working residents. Elwood grades A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. The trip to work takes 32 minutes on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Elwood in brief
Stores, warehouses and trucking
65% of the jobs in Elwood are in trade, transport and utilities, against 26% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Elwood is where the jobs are
Elwood has 2,357 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,400 people are in town, 50% more than the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Elwood and Joliet trade workers both ways
Joliet is the top workplace for Elwood residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Elwood come from (15% of its jobs). 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.
Income, poverty and work: Elwood’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elwood is better than 84% of U.S. towns. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.1%, U.S. 12.5%). 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, Elwood could be anywhere from B− to A+.
The kinds of work in Elwood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elwood, 2014 → 2024: 1,910 → 2,357. 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 Elwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Elwood for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,209 residents head out to work and 35 work right here.
About 3,400 people are in Elwood on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Who travels to work in Elwood, and from where
Where Elwood clocks in
16% of workers
7% 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.
How long Elwood spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 939 commuters (the 10% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Elwood
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.
Elwood is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elwood is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Elwood 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 1,042 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 5.8% of Elwood households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Elwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
560th of 5,102: where Elwood ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 558 | Woodland Hills UT | 1,707 | $152K | 5.6% | 2.0% | 1% | A− |
| 559 | Avon Township MN | 2,154 | $108K | 5.3% | 1.8% | 2% | A− |
| 560 | Elwood IL | 2,237 | $86K | 8.1% | 1.6% | 3% | A− |
| 561 | Kouts IN | 2,048 | $78K | 4.2% | 0.5% | 8% | A− |
| 562 | Orchard Lake Village MI | 2,214 | $207K | 8.6% | 4.2% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Elwood, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
16% of Elwood works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Joliet. Darker towns draw more of Elwood’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 Elwood: questions
What is the median household income in Elwood?
$86,458 (±$18,533) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elwood?
8.1%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elwood?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elwood work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joliet (16%, 7 mi), Chicago (7%, 37 mi), New Lenox (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Elwood walkable?
Elwood is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elwood without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elwood
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.