Glendale Heights has higher unemployment (6.0%) than 74% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago. Jobs and income earn Glendale Heights B; getting around on foot earns it A−. Only 5% stay in Glendale Heights for work; outside it, Chicago is the main destination (14%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Glendale Heights, in brief
Glendale Heights draws workers from far and wide
The 10,313 jobs in Glendale Heights are filled from a wide area. Glendale Heights’ own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Glendale Heights makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Glendale Heights are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Glendale Heights residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. 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.
Where Glendale Heights’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Glendale Heights is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #390 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Glendale Heights’ grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Glendale Heights could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The towns that employ Glendale Heights’ residents
Where Glendale Heights clocks in
14% of workers
6% 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.
Goods jobs make up 36% of work in Glendale Heights
10,313 jobs are based in Glendale Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Glendale Heights, 2013 → 2023: 11,230 → 10,313. 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 Glendale Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Glendale Heights
On a workday 15,203 residents head out to work, 810 work right here, and 9,503 people come in from elsewhere.
About 27,000 people are in Glendale Heights on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.64 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.
Commuting from Glendale Heights: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Glendale Heights workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,882 commuters (the 11% 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.
How far it is to work from Glendale Heights
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.
In Glendale Heights, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Glendale Heights is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #267 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% 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 17,779 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% 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 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% 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). 7.7% of Glendale Heights households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Glendale Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Glendale Heights ranks: 714th of 1,283 U.S. towns of 23,000 to 44,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | New Lenox IL | 28,893 | $141K | 1.5% | 2.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Bartlett IL | 40,855 | $133K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 712 | Galt CA | 26,964 | $94K | 8.0% | 6.1% | 12% | B |
| 713 | Tarpon Springs FL | 25,602 | $80K | 10.0% | 4.1% | 10% | B |
| 714 | Glendale Heights IL | 32,655 | $87K | 10.3% | 6.0% | 5% | B |
| 715 | Clearfield UT | 35,144 | $75K | 12.7% | 2.8% | 9% | B |
| 716 | Harrison Township MI | 23,984 | $80K | 10.2% | 4.8% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,283 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Glendale Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
13% of Glendale Heights works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Carol Stream (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Glendale Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glendale Heights | – | B | A− | 27 min | $86,545 |
| Bloomingdale | 3% | A | A− | 27 min | $102,928 |
| Carol Stream | 6% | A | A− | 28 min | $102,309 |
| Addison | 4% | B+ | A− | 26 min | $90,431 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Glendale 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 Glendale Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Glendale Heights?
$86,545 (±$9,156) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Glendale Heights?
10.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Glendale Heights?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Glendale Heights work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (14%, 21 mi), Carol Stream (6%, 3 mi), Addison (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Glendale Heights walkable?
Glendale Heights is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Glendale Heights without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Glendale Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Glendale 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.