Preston Heights has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
There are 146 jobs in Preston Heights; 1,254 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Preston Heights C; getting around on foot earns it A−. Measured by household income, Preston Heights is behind 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Preston Heights, in brief
Preston Heights is a place people come home to
There are 146 jobs based in Preston Heights, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Preston Heights has about 1,300 people in it, 45% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Preston Heights and Joliet trade workers both ways
Joliet is the top workplace for Preston Heights residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Preston Heights come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Preston Heights are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Illinois. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Illinois worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
The four measures behind Preston Heights’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Preston Heights is better than 25% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Preston Heights’ grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Preston Heights could be anywhere from C− to B.
How many people are in Preston Heights by day
On a workday 1,250 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 142 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Preston Heights on a workday afternoon, 45% 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.
20% of working residents work in Joliet
Where Preston Heights clocks in
20% of workers
11% 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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Preston Heights workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 951 commuters (the 8% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Preston Heights
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Preston Heights, 2013 → 2023: 149 → 146. 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 Preston Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Preston 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.
Preston Heights 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, Preston Heights is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Preston 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 1,038 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% 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 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 13.0% of Preston Heights households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Preston Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Preston Heights ranks: 3,688th of 5,207 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,686 | Canadian TX | 2,129 | $59K | 6.6% | 5.6% | 37% | C |
| 3,687 | Van Buren Township IN | 2,948 | $58K | 14.6% | 4.0% | 14% | C |
| 3,688 | Preston Heights IL | 2,449 | $52K | 22.8% | 7.2% | <1% | C |
| 3,689 | Castle Point MO | 2,340 | $38K | 34.1% | 13.4% | 1% | C |
| 3,690 | Limon CO | 2,021 | $66K | 8.1% | 1.7% | 32% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Preston Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Bordering towns draw 20% of Preston Heights’ workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Preston Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Heights | – | C | A− | 23 min | $51,625 |
| Joliet | 20% | B | B+ | 29 min | $92,201 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Joliet. Darker towns draw more of Preston 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 Preston Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Preston Heights?
$51,625 (±$7,275) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Preston Heights?
22.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Preston Heights?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Preston Heights work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joliet (20%, 4 mi), Chicago (11%, 31 mi), New Lenox (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Preston Heights walkable?
Preston Heights is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Preston Heights without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Preston Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Preston 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.