Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Oak Forest works elsewhere
Oak Forest has 5,962 jobs for 12,732 working residents. The two grades for Oak Forest are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.5 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 in Oak Forest, in a few figures
Oak Forest and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Oak Forest residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Oak Forest come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Oak Forest draws workers from far and wide
The 5,962 jobs in Oak Forest are filled from a wide area. Oak Forest’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 33%; the other 58% 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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Oak Forest
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Forest is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #282 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Oak Forest’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Forest could be anywhere from B to A.
22% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Oak Forest clocks in
22% of workers
4% 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.
Oak Forest on a workday afternoon
On a workday 12,170 residents head out to work, 562 work right here, and 5,400 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Oak Forest on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
The kinds of work in Oak Forest
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Forest, 2013 → 2023: 5,749 → 5,962. 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 Oak Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Oak Forest: about 32 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Forest workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,327 commuters (the 10% 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 Oak Forest
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Oak Forest
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Forest is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #112 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Oak Forest 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 13,768 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 4.2% of Oak Forest households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Oak Forest’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oak Forest ranks: 593rd of 1,477 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | West Deerfield Township IL | 32,111 | $205K | 2.7% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 591 | Neenah WI | 27,638 | $75K | 8.6% | 2.2% | 18% | A− |
| 592 | DeBary FL | 23,544 | $89K | 5.3% | 4.3% | 4% | A− |
| 593 | Oak Forest IL | 26,792 | $92K | 6.5% | 5.4% | 4% | A− |
| 594 | Dorr Township IL | 21,614 | $88K | 7.0% | 3.2% | 15% | A− |
| 595 | Agawam Town MA | 28,783 | $85K | 6.7% | 4.0% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | 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 Oak Forest, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work in the towns next to Oak Forest
The biggest share goes to Orland Park (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oak Forest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Forest | – | A− | A | 32 min | $91,990 |
| Midlothian | under 2% | B | A | 29 min | $70,000 |
| Country Club Hills | under 2% | B− | A− | 31 min | $75,197 |
| Orland Park | 4% | A− | A | 34 min | $98,910 |
| Markham | under 2% | C | A | 36 min | $57,302 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oak Forest’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 Oak Forest: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Forest?
$91,990 (±$8,482) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Forest?
6.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Forest?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Forest work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (22%, 16 mi), Tinley Park (4%, 4 mi), Orland Park (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Forest walkable?
Oak Forest is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Forest without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Forest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Forest
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.