Photo: AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as Glenwood’s 17.0%
Only 3% stay in Glenwood for work; outside it, Chicago is the main destination (28%, 21 miles). Glenwood grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Glenwood in brief
Glenwood’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Glenwood is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #515 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Glenwood’s grade up (ahead of 93% 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, Glenwood could be anywhere from C to B+.
The places Glenwood commutes to
Where Glenwood clocks in
28% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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 a workday changes Glenwood
On a workday 3,326 residents head out to work, 112 work right here, and 2,009 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Glenwood on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
Jobs in Glenwood: what the 2,121 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Glenwood, 2014 → 2024: 2,545 → 2,121. 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 Glenwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Glenwood, about 30 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Glenwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,277 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.
How far Glenwood goes to work
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.
Glenwood is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Glenwood is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #157 of 768 in Illinois. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,614 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 36% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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 Glenwood households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Glenwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,981 U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,400, Glenwood comes 1,812th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Itasca IL | 9,488 | $114K | 2.0% | 2.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,810 | Columbia City IN | 10,256 | $68K | 13.6% | 3.7% | 15% | B− |
| 1,811 | St. Johns MI | 7,780 | $69K | 12.5% | 4.1% | 21% | B− |
| 1,812 | Glenwood IL | 8,416 | $77K | 10.6% | 17.0% | 3% | B− |
| 1,813 | Cherryville NC | 6,523 | $71K | 12.4% | 3.0% | 10% | B− |
| 1,814 | Shawano WI | 9,693 | $57K | 14.9% | 0.9% | 30% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | 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 Glenwood, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Glenwood compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Glenwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenwood | – | B− | A | 30 min | $77,391 |
| Chicago Heights | 3% | C− | A | 30 min | $54,798 |
| Lynwood | under 2% | B | B | 50 min | $85,237 |
| Homewood | 3% | B | A+ | 33 min | $100,139 |
| Thornton | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 26 min | $59,647 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chicago Heights. Darker towns draw more of Glenwood’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 Glenwood: questions
What is the median household income in Glenwood?
$77,391 (±$18,976) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Glenwood?
10.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Glenwood?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Glenwood work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (28%, 21 mi), Homewood (3%, 3 mi), Chicago Heights (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Glenwood walkable?
Glenwood is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Glenwood without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Glenwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Glenwood
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.