Photo: Marcusmax · CC BY-SA 3.0Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as Hazel Crest’s 14.3%
Only 2% work in Hazel Crest itself; outside it, Chicago draws the most (31%, 18 miles). Hazel Crest grades C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Hazel Crest apart on work
Hazel Crest trades workers with the towns around it
Hazel Crest has about as many jobs (4,312) as working residents (5,038), but they are mostly different people: 4,918 residents leave for work each day while 4,192 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Hazel Crest are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Hazel Crest and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Hazel Crest residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Hazel Crest come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Hazel Crest is services
85% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 11% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
What’s behind Hazel Crest’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hazel Crest is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #633 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Hazel Crest’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hazel Crest could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Hazel Crest
On a workday 4,918 residents head out to work, 120 work right here, and 4,192 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 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 the trip to work from Hazel Crest ends
Where Hazel Crest clocks in
31% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
Hazel Crest is a services town
4,312 jobs are based in Hazel Crest.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hazel Crest, 2013 → 2023: 3,906 → 4,312. 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 Hazel Crest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes each way, about the IL average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hazel Crest workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,362 commuters (the 16% 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 Hazel Crest
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: Hazel Crest
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hazel Crest is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #58 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Hazel Crest 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 5,194 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 12.9% of Hazel Crest households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Hazel Crest’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,980th of 2,526: where Hazel Crest ranks among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Riverside Township IL | 16,083 | $122K | 4.5% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,978 | Hudson FL | 11,254 | $52K | 13.0% | 4.6% | 5% | C |
| 1,979 | Hueytown AL | 16,159 | $63K | 16.2% | 8.6% | 5% | C |
| 1,980 | Hazel Crest IL | 13,024 | $68K | 24.0% | 14.3% | 2% | C |
| 1,981 | Warrenton MO | 9,667 | $61K | 14.6% | 4.7% | 11% | C |
| 1,982 | West Vero Corridor FL | 10,461 | $62K | 10.8% | 5.7% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Hazel Crest, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Hazel Crest
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hazel Crest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Crest | – | C | A+ | 27 min | $68,393 |
| Homewood | 2% | B | A+ | 33 min | $100,139 |
| Country Club Hills | under 2% | B− | A− | 31 min | $75,197 |
| Markham | 2% | C | A | 36 min | $57,302 |
| Flossmoor | under 2% | A− | A | 33 min | $133,663 |
| Harvey | 1% | C− | A+ | 30 min | $42,429 |
| East Hazel Crest | under 2% | C+ | A | 26 min | $54,950 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Homewood. Darker towns draw more of Hazel Crest’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 Hazel Crest: questions
What is the median household income in Hazel Crest?
$68,393 (±$16,617) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hazel Crest?
24.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hazel Crest?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hazel Crest work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (31%, 18 mi), Homewood (2%, 2 mi), Matteson (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hazel Crest walkable?
Hazel Crest is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hazel Crest without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hazel Crest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hazel Crest
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.