Unemployment in Fairview Heights (6.4%) is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago. For jobs and income Fairview Heights is better than 59% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (A−). Home is the office for 6% of workers (Illinois 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Fairview Heights stands out on work
Fairview Heights draws workers from far and wide
The 10,051 jobs in Fairview Heights are filled from a wide area. Fairview Heights’ own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 33%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Fairview Heights
56% of Fairview Heights residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Fairview Heights pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Fairview Heights are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Fairview Heights pay little
29% of the jobs based in Fairview Heights pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 35% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
The four measures behind Fairview Heights’ grade
Job access by car holds Fairview Heights’ grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairview Heights could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
13% of working residents work in St. Louis
Where Fairview Heights clocks in
13% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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.
What the 10,051 jobs in Fairview Heights are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairview Heights, 2013 → 2023: 10,529 → 10,051. 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 Fairview Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Fairview Heights’ commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairview Heights workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,728 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.
Who leaves Fairview Heights for work, and who comes in
On a workday 6,612 residents head out to work, 624 work right here, and 9,427 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Fairview Heights on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where in the region Fairview Heights works
About 15% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Fairview Heights
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% 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 8,265 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 62% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 12% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 4.3% of Fairview Heights households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Fairview Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
1,218th of 2,220: where Fairview Heights ranks among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,216 | Beacon NY | 14,931 | $108K | 9.0% | 7.3% | 15% | B |
| 1,217 | Boiling Springs SC | 12,936 | $72K | 9.9% | 3.5% | 5% | B |
| 1,218 | Fairview Heights IL | 16,175 | $81K | 8.8% | 6.4% | 9% | B |
| 1,219 | Penn Township PA | 18,523 | $85K | 8.6% | 4.9% | 13% | B |
| 1,220 | Discovery Bay CA | 14,911 | $147K | 7.4% | 8.6% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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 Fairview Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
21% of Fairview Heights works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Belleville (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairview Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview Heights | – | B | A− | 22 min | $80,930 |
| Caseyville | under 2% | C+ | B | 21 min | $60,669 |
| Swansea | 2% | B+ | B | 24 min | $91,587 |
| Canteen Township | under 2% | C− | A− | 20 min | $49,755 |
| East St. Louis | 2% | C− | A | 23 min | $35,700 |
| East St. Louis Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| O'Fallon | 6% | A | A− | 25 min | $105,982 |
| Belleville | 11% | C+ | A | 25 min | $63,535 |
| Caseyville Township | under 2% | B+ | A− | 22 min | $87,204 |
| St. Clair Township | under 2% | B | A− | 23 min | $80,309 |
Same-state neighbors only. East St. Louis Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairview Heights’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 Fairview Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Fairview Heights?
$80,930 (±$7,908) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairview Heights?
8.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairview Heights?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairview Heights work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (13%, 13 mi), Belleville (11%, 6 mi), O'Fallon (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairview Heights walkable?
Fairview Heights is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairview Heights without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 12% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairview Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairview Heights
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.