Photo: Indy beetle · CC BY-SA 4.0Mount Prospect’s household incomes are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Mount Prospect A; getting around on foot earns it A. 6.6% of residents live below the poverty line; Illinois has 11.8%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.1 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
Work and commuting in Mount Prospect, in brief
Mount Prospect and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Mount Prospect residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Mount Prospect come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Mount Prospect draws workers from far and wide
The 18,810 jobs in Mount Prospect are filled from a wide area. Mount Prospect’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; the other 57% 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.
What’s behind Mount Prospect’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mount Prospect is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #156 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Prospect could be anywhere from A− to A+.
18% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Mount Prospect clocks in
18% of workers
6% 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.
Mount Prospect quiets down on a workday
On a workday 24,200 residents head out to work, 1,765 work right here, and 17,045 people come in from elsewhere.
About 48,000 people are in Mount Prospect on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.72 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 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Mount Prospect’s 18,810 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Prospect, 2013 → 2023: 21,803 → 18,810. 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 Mount Prospect’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Mount Prospect: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Prospect workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 22,144 commuters (the 19% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Mount Prospect
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: Mount Prospect
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mount Prospect is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #101 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Mount Prospect 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 27,391 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 87% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 27% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 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). 5.9% of Mount Prospect households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Mount Prospect’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Mount Prospect is 170th among 786 U.S. towns of 39,000 to 75,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Bartlett IL | 40,855 | $133K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | New Lenox Township IL | 45,290 | $133K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 15 | Oswego IL | 39,948 | $124K | 2.6% | 2.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Campbell CA | 42,490 | $145K | 5.6% | 5.0% | 6% | A |
| 169 | Redondo Beach CA | 67,281 | $150K | 5.4% | 5.5% | 8% | A |
| 170 | Mount Prospect IL | 55,395 | $102K | 6.6% | 3.8% | 7% | A |
| 171 | Penfield NY | 39,139 | $119K | 5.3% | 4.0% | 9% | A |
| 172 | Washington Township OH | 63,075 | $99K | 6.2% | 2.9% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 786 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Mount Prospect, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 10% of Mount Prospect’s workers
The biggest share goes to Arlington Heights (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Prospect workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Prospect | – | A | A | 26 min | $101,720 |
| Arlington Heights | 6% | A | A | 28 min | $116,723 |
| Des Plaines | 4% | A | A | 28 min | $97,875 |
| Prospect Heights | under 2% | A− | B+ | 26 min | $85,008 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mount Prospect’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 Mount Prospect: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Prospect?
$101,720 (±$5,626) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Prospect?
6.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Prospect?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Prospect work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (18%, 20 mi), Arlington Heights (6%, 3 mi), Des Plaines (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Prospect walkable?
Mount Prospect is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Prospect without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 27% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mount Prospect, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Prospect
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.