Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Melrose Park has 2.0 jobs for every working resident: 18,464 people commute in to work
Jobs and income earn Melrose Park B−; getting around on foot earns it A. There are 19,466 jobs in Melrose Park for 9,928 working residents. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.0 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
Work in Melrose Park: the figures worth knowing
Melrose Park is where the jobs are
Melrose Park has 19,466 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 33,000 people are in town, 40% more than the 24,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Melrose Park and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Melrose Park residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Melrose Park come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Melrose Park draws workers from far and wide
The 19,466 jobs in Melrose Park are filled from a wide area. Melrose Park’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 35%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Melrose Park are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. 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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Melrose Park
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Melrose Park is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #496 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Melrose Park’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Melrose Park could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Melrose Park by day and by night
On a workday 8,926 residents head out to work and 1,002 work right here.
About 33,000 people are in Melrose Park on a workday afternoon, 40% more 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.
The towns that send workers to Melrose Park
Where Melrose Park clocks in
22% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in Melrose Park
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Melrose Park, 2013 → 2023: 18,296 → 19,466. 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 Melrose Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from Melrose Park
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Melrose Park workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,103 commuters (the 6% 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 Melrose Park
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.
Melrose Park 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, Melrose Park is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #82 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 6.3% 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 11,801 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, 64% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 10.2% of Melrose Park households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Melrose Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Melrose Park is 1,035th of 1,577 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 32,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Geneva IL | 21,138 | $144K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,033 | Columbus NE | 25,248 | $65K | 11.3% | 2.4% | 49% | B− |
| 1,034 | Blackman Township MI | 24,987 | $61K | 10.5% | 3.7% | 16% | B− |
| 1,035 | Melrose Park IL | 23,936 | $66K | 12.3% | 5.7% | 10% | B− |
| 1,036 | Washougal WA | 18,028 | $106K | 11.2% | 7.7% | 9% | B− |
| 1,037 | Superior WI | 26,397 | $64K | 13.3% | 3.2% | 41% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,577 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Melrose Park, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door to Melrose Park
The biggest share goes to Northlake (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Melrose Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melrose Park | – | B− | A | 27 min | $66,189 |
| Stone Park | under 2% | B− | A− | 20 min | $67,224 |
| Northlake | 2% | B | A | 29 min | $83,892 |
| River Grove | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 31 min | $69,858 |
| Franklin Park | 2% | B | A | 29 min | $76,519 |
| Maywood | 2% | C+ | A+ | 34 min | $68,815 |
| Bellwood | under 2% | B | A+ | 28 min | $79,513 |
| River Forest | under 2% | A | A+ | 33 min | $146,786 |
| River Forest Township | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Proviso Township | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 29 min | $82,097 |
| Berkeley | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 28 min | $85,823 |
Same-state neighbors only. River Forest Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Melrose Park’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 Melrose Park: questions
What is the median household income in Melrose Park?
$66,189 (±$4,214) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Melrose Park?
12.3%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Melrose Park?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Melrose Park work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (22%, 10 mi), Elk Grove Village (3%, 10 mi), Franklin Park (2%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Melrose Park walkable?
Melrose Park is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Melrose Park without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 64% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Melrose Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Melrose Park
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.