Photo: Crosbiesmith · CC BY-SA 4.0Palos Hills has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
There are 3,777 jobs in Palos Hills; 7,688 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Palos Hills A−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Palos Hills: the gist
Palos Hills and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Palos Hills residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Palos Hills come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Palos Hills workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (28 to 31 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Palos Hills earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palos Hills is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #285 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 (4.1%, 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, Palos Hills could be anywhere from B− to A+.
25% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Palos Hills clocks in
25% 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.
Palos Hills’ commute takes about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palos Hills workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,581 commuters (the 12% 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 daily flow of workers through Palos Hills
On a workday 7,383 residents head out to work, 305 work right here, and 3,472 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Palos Hills on a workday afternoon, 22% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Palos Hills is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palos Hills, 2014 → 2024: 4,906 → 3,777. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Palos Hills’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Palos Hills, by distance
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Palos Hills 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, Palos Hills is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #141 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.3% 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 8,592 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, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 84% 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). 6.0% of Palos Hills households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Palos Hills’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Palos Hills ranks: 687th of 1,822 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 685 | Moraga CA | 16,322 | $216K | 7.3% | 6.4% | 6% | A− |
| 686 | Goshen Township OH | 16,783 | $78K | 8.0% | 2.2% | 5% | A− |
| 687 | Palos Hills IL | 18,028 | $84K | 8.4% | 4.1% | 4% | A− |
| 688 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| 689 | Phoenixville PA | 20,356 | $102K | 8.1% | 4.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Hills, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How Palos Hills compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Hickory Hills (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palos Hills workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Hills | – | A− | A | 35 min | $83,533 |
| Hickory Hills | 3% | B | A | 30 min | $77,262 |
| Bridgeview | 2% | C+ | A | 31 min | $66,655 |
| Worth | under 2% | C | A | 28 min | $56,288 |
| Palos Park | under 2% | A− | B+ | 30 min | $121,696 |
| Palos Heights | under 2% | A | A | 30 min | $108,740 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Palos Hills’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 2024, 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 Hills: questions
What is the median household income in Palos Hills?
$83,533 (±$7,909) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palos Hills?
8.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palos Hills?
35 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palos Hills work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (25%, 12 mi), Oak Lawn (3%, 4 mi), Hickory Hills (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Palos Hills walkable?
Palos Hills is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palos Hills without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palos Hills, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palos Hills
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.