Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Joliet Township (7.2%) than in 84% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home, where Illinois as a whole has 16%. Joliet Township grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Joliet Township in brief
Joliet Township trades workers with the towns around it
Joliet Township has about as many jobs (33,713) as working residents (35,175), but they are mostly different people: 29,757 residents leave for work each day while 28,295 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Joliet Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Joliet Township and Joliet trade workers both ways
Joliet is the top workplace for Joliet Township residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Joliet Township come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Joliet Township draws workers from far and wide
The 33,713 jobs in Joliet Township are filled from a wide area. Joliet Township’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Why Joliet Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Joliet Township is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #594 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Joliet Township’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Joliet Township could be anywhere from C to C+.
Who commutes out of Joliet Township, and who commutes in
On a workday 29,757 residents head out to work, 5,418 work right here, and 28,295 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 (0.96 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.
20% of working residents work in Joliet
Where Joliet Township clocks in
20% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
The 33,713 jobs based in Joliet Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Joliet Township, 2013 → 2023: 32,981 → 33,713. 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 Joliet Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Joliet Township: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Joliet Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 37,893 commuters (the 5% 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 many miles Joliet Township commutes
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.
Joliet Township is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Joliet Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #239 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 39,984 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 56% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 8.6% of Joliet Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Joliet Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Joliet Township is 433rd of 534 U.S. towns of 60,000 to 116,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Vernon Township IL | 71,353 | $146K | 6.3% | 2.4% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Wheatland Township IL | 92,693 | $173K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Arlington Heights IL | 76,216 | $117K | 6.0% | 3.5% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 431 | North Miami FL | 60,884 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 432 | San Marcos TX | 77,830 | $51K | 26.9% | 5.2% | 26% | C+ |
| 433 | Joliet Township IL | 86,200 | $64K | 18.4% | 7.2% | 15% | C+ |
| 434 | East Orange NJ | 72,159 | $61K | 16.4% | 9.2% | 8% | C |
| 435 | Dearborn MI | 105,611 | $65K | 24.3% | 6.6% | 23% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 534 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Joliet Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bordering towns draw 20% of Joliet Township’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Joliet Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joliet Township | – | C+ | A− | 26 min | $63,998 |
| Lockport Township | under 2% | B | A− | 32 min | $85,328 |
| Troy Township | under 2% | A | B | 30 min | $109,309 |
| Joliet | 20% | B | B+ | 29 min | $92,201 |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | A | C | 30 min | $104,292 |
| Fairmont | under 2% | C+ | B | 23 min | $70,795 |
| New Lenox Township | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 32 min | $133,434 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Joliet. Darker towns draw more of Joliet Township’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 Joliet Township: questions
What is the median household income in Joliet Township?
$63,998 (±$2,980) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Joliet Township?
18.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Joliet Township?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Joliet Township work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joliet (20%, 3 mi), Chicago (10%, 31 mi), Bolingbrook (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Joliet Township walkable?
Joliet Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Joliet Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 56% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Joliet Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Joliet Township
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.