Photo: Nmaviano · CC BY-SA 3.0Riverside Township’s household incomes are higher than in 89% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 6.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago. Poverty touches 4.5% of residents, against 11.8% across Illinois. Riverside Township grades A+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Riverside Township in brief
Riverside Township and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Riverside Township residents (36%) and also where the most people who work in Riverside Township come from (29% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Riverside Township
69% of Riverside Township residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Riverside Township pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A lot of Riverside Township works from home
25% of Riverside Township workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
35% of the jobs based in Riverside Township are held by workers 29 or younger, against 19% of Riverside Township’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
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.
Inside Riverside Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Riverside Township is among the top U.S. towns, #12 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (among the top U.S. towns); the poverty rate 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, Riverside Township could be anywhere from A to A+.
36% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Riverside Township clocks in
36% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
What work there is in Riverside Township: 6,156 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riverside Township, 2013 → 2023: 7,763 → 6,156. 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 Riverside Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of Illinois
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riverside Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,989 commuters (the 25% 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 commute in and out of Riverside Township
On a workday 7,529 residents head out to work, 398 work right here, and 5,758 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Riverside Township on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Riverside Township
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: Riverside Township
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Riverside Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #28 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Riverside Township 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 7,974 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 6.5% of Riverside Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 13% of Riverside Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Riverside Township is 32nd of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Western Springs IL | 13,588 | $230K | 1.3% | 3.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | La Grange IL | 15,935 | $160K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| 31 | Geneva IL | 21,138 | $144K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 13% | A+ |
| 32 | Riverside Township IL | 16,083 | $122K | 4.5% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| 33 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 34 | Skippack Township PA | 14,502 | $148K | 2.5% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Riverside Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work in the towns next to Riverside Township
The biggest share goes to Riverside (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Riverside Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside Township | – | A+ | A+ | 31 min | $121,944 |
| Lyons Township | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 30 min | $92,619 |
| Lyons | under 2% | B | A+ | 28 min | $70,993 |
| Riverside | 3% | A+ | A+ | 33 min | $153,686 |
| Proviso Township | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 29 min | $82,097 |
| Brookfield | 2% | A | A+ | 33 min | $110,295 |
| Berwyn | 2% | B | A+ | 29 min | $78,408 |
| Berwyn Township | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Berwyn Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Riverside Township’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 Riverside Township: questions
What is the median household income in Riverside Township?
$121,944 (±$16,112) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riverside Township?
4.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riverside Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Riverside Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (36%, 7 mi), Riverside (3%, 0 mi), Cicero (2%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Riverside Township walkable?
Riverside Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riverside Township without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riverside Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riverside Township
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.