Photo: author: Joseph E. Lobocki · CC BY 2.0A job hub: Rolling Meadows has 2.3 jobs per working resident, and 24,643 people come in to work
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 36.9 in Chicago. 25,281 jobs are based in Rolling Meadows, and 11,225 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Rolling Meadows are 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
Rolling Meadows at work: what stands out
Rolling Meadows is where the jobs are
Rolling Meadows has 25,281 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 38,000 people are in town, 59% more than the 24,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Rolling Meadows and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Rolling Meadows residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Rolling Meadows come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Rolling Meadows draws workers from far and wide
The 25,281 jobs in Rolling Meadows are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 34%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
The biggest group of Rolling Meadows’ workers comes from Chicago
3,963 of the people who work in Rolling Meadows live in Chicago, 24 miles away, more than from any other town. 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.
Why Rolling Meadows gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rolling Meadows is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #218 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 (3.9%, 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, Rolling Meadows could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Rolling Meadows by day and by night
On a workday 10,587 residents head out to work and 638 work right here.
About 38,000 people are in Rolling Meadows on a workday afternoon, 59% more 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.
Where the people who work in Rolling Meadows live
Where Rolling Meadows clocks in
17% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
71% of the jobs in Rolling Meadows pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rolling Meadows, 2013 → 2023: 18,926 → 25,281. 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 Rolling Meadows’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Rolling Meadows: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rolling Meadows workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,793 commuters (the 15% 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.
Where in the region Rolling Meadows works
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.
Rolling Meadows 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, Rolling Meadows is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #209 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Rolling Meadows 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 12,670 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 13% 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 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 4.4% of Rolling Meadows households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Rolling Meadows’ commuters take a bus or train.
494th of 1,577: where Rolling Meadows ranks among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 32,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Deerfield IL | 19,642 | $182K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Geneva IL | 21,138 | $144K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 492 | Hudson NH | 26,001 | $124K | 4.6% | 5.0% | 13% | A− |
| 493 | Sparta Township NJ | 20,431 | $168K | 4.0% | 5.4% | 13% | A− |
| 494 | Rolling Meadows IL | 23,690 | $99K | 8.5% | 3.9% | 6% | A− |
| 495 | Newburyport MA | 19,148 | $140K | 5.0% | 5.1% | 23% | A− |
| 496 | Burlingame CA | 31,929 | $174K | 7.1% | 5.7% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,577 | 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 Rolling Meadows, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 18% of Rolling Meadows
The biggest share goes to Schaumburg (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rolling Meadows workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolling Meadows | – | A− | A− | 26 min | $98,514 |
| Schaumburg | 7% | A | A | 28 min | $97,514 |
| Palatine | 4% | A− | A− | 28 min | $97,819 |
| Arlington Heights | 7% | A | A | 28 min | $116,723 |
| Palatine Township | under 2% | A− | A− | 27 min | $104,916 |
| Wheeling Township | under 2% | A | A | 27 min | $106,026 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rolling Meadows’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 Rolling Meadows: questions
What is the median household income in Rolling Meadows?
$98,514 (±$6,968) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rolling Meadows?
8.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rolling Meadows?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rolling Meadows work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (17%, 24 mi), Schaumburg (7%, 4 mi), Arlington Heights (7%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rolling Meadows walkable?
Rolling Meadows is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rolling Meadows without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rolling Meadows, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rolling Meadows
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.