Photo: Digital Bookmobile · CC BY 2.0Households in Palos Heights have higher incomes than those in 83% of U.S. towns
Palos Heights grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. 5.2% of residents are in poverty; Illinois has 11.8%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.2 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
Palos Heights at work: what stands out
Palos Heights and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Palos Heights residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Palos Heights come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Palos Heights is services
88% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Palos Heights draws workers from far and wide
The 6,544 jobs in Palos Heights are filled from a wide area. Palos Heights’ own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 37%; 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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Palos Heights
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palos Heights is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #100 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. 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, Palos Heights could be anywhere from A− to A+.
28% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Palos Heights clocks in
28% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
6,544 jobs are based in Palos Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palos Heights, 2013 → 2023: 8,259 → 6,544. 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 Palos Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Palos Heights by day
On a workday 4,896 residents head out to work, 361 work right here, and 6,183 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Palos Heights on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
How long Palos Heights spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palos Heights workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,496 commuters (the 14% 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.
The distance from Palos Heights 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Palos Heights
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palos Heights is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #126 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Palos Heights 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 5,244 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 40% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 5.2% of Palos Heights households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Palos Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, Palos Heights ranks 374th of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Long Grove IL | 8,343 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Riverside IL | 8,939 | $154K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 372 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| 373 | Leicester MA | 11,428 | $105K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 8% | A |
| 374 | Palos Heights IL | 12,084 | $109K | 5.2% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| 375 | Lafayette Township IN | 8,526 | $118K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 6% | A |
| 376 | Hooper UT | 9,741 | $113K | 4.4% | 2.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Palos Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Palos Heights and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palos Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Heights | – | A | A | 30 min | $108,740 |
| Palos Park | under 2% | A− | B+ | 30 min | $121,696 |
| Worth | under 2% | C | A | 28 min | $56,288 |
| Palos Hills | under 2% | A− | A | 35 min | $83,533 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Palos Heights’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 Palos Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Palos Heights?
$108,740 (±$10,164) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palos Heights?
5.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palos Heights?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palos Heights work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (28%, 13 mi), Orland Park (3%, 5 mi), Oak Lawn (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palos Heights walkable?
Palos Heights is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palos Heights without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palos Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palos Heights
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.