Photo: Etombari · CC BY-SA 4.0Highwood has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
For jobs and income Highwood is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A). Employers in Highwood report 1,021 jobs for 1,946 working residents. Measured by household income, Highwood is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Highwood, in a few figures
Highwood’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Highwood is Chicago, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (436) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Highwood
61% of Highwood residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Highwood pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. 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.
Inside Highwood’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Highwood’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highwood could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
How far Highwood goes to work
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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Highwood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highwood, 2013 → 2023: 846 → 1,021. 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 Highwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Highwood
On a workday 1,838 residents head out to work, 108 work right here, and 913 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,400 people are in Highwood on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Highwood clocks in
22% of workers
12% 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.
From Highwood, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highwood workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,347 commuters (the 15% 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.
In Highwood, walking beats the bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 6.0% 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 2,769 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 70% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 1.7% of Highwood households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Highwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Highwood is 1,580th among 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | South Barrington IL | 5,071 | $222K | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Northfield IL | 5,632 | $162K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,578 | Mammoth Lakes CA | 6,867 | $98K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 52% | B |
| 1,579 | Lewes DE | 3,826 | $96K | 7.9% | 4.1% | 16% | B |
| 1,580 | Highwood IL | 5,323 | $108K | 16.0% | 6.0% | 6% | B |
| 1,581 | Marcellus NY | 5,959 | $94K | 5.4% | 6.6% | 11% | B |
| 1,582 | Gravette AR | 3,889 | $68K | 5.8% | 3.5% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Highwood, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
The towns next door employ 15% of Highwood
The biggest share goes to Highland Park (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highwood | – | B | A | 31 min | $107,875 |
| Highland Park | 12% | A+ | A+ | 28 min | $168,094 |
| Lake Forest | 3% | A+ | A | 31 min | $235,081 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highwood’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 Highwood: questions
What is the median household income in Highwood?
$107,875 (±$21,256) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highwood?
16.0%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highwood?
31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highwood work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (22%, 26 mi), Highland Park (12%, 2 mi), Northbrook (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Highwood walkable?
Highwood is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highwood without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 70% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Highwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highwood
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.