Willowbrook has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.0 for each
There are 16 jobs in Willowbrook, against 492 working residents. Willowbrook grades A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Hardly any work in Willowbrook itself; outside it, Chicago draws the most (19%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Willowbrook, in brief
Willowbrook is a place people come home to
There are 16 jobs based in Willowbrook, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Willowbrook has about 1,400 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Willowbrook’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Willowbrook is Chicago, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (94) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Willowbrook workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 28 across Illinois. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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; with 492 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Willowbrook
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Willowbrook is better than 94% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.8%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($89,773, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Willowbrook could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Willowbrook on a workday afternoon
On a workday 491 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 15 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Willowbrook on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
How many miles Willowbrook commutes
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.
A commute of about 36 minutes in Willowbrook
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Willowbrook workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 830 commuters (the 23% 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 Willowbrook goes to work
Where Willowbrook clocks in
19% of workers
4% 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.
75% of the jobs in Willowbrook pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Willowbrook, 2013 → 2023: 11 → 16. 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 Willowbrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Willowbrook walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Willowbrook is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 4.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,084 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.0% of Willowbrook households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Willowbrook’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Willowbrook ranks 226th of 5,921 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 224 | Medina WI | 1,300 | $100K | 1.0% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| 225 | Elkhorn CA | 1,664 | $127K | 2.0% | 10.0% | <1% | A |
| 226 | Willowbrook IL | 1,913 | $90K | 2.8% | 1.8% | <1% | A |
| 227 | Saukville WI | 1,809 | $106K | 3.6% | 3.3% | 3% | A |
| 228 | Aurora TX | 1,643 | $106K | 4.9% | 4.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Willowbrook, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Willowbrook and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Willowbrook workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willowbrook | – | A | B− | 36 min | $89,773 |
| Plum Valley | under 2% | — | — | 51 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Plum Valley: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Willowbrook’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 Willowbrook: questions
What is the median household income in Willowbrook?
$89,773 (±$38,642) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Willowbrook?
2.8%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Willowbrook?
36 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Willowbrook work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (19%, 28 mi), South Holland (4%, 11 mi), Chicago Heights (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Willowbrook walkable?
Willowbrook is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Willowbrook without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Willowbrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Willowbrook
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.