Will County, IL

County Profile

701,462 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Will County, IL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 27% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity978th of 1,463 counties measured46
SchoolsTop 14% of 1,377 counties measured78
Growth924th of 1,453 counties measured43
Housing affordability909th of 1,462 counties measured71
Climate972nd of 1,463 counties measured63
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured84
AccessTop 42% of 1,463 counties measured85
Economic stabilityTop 7% of 1,463 counties measured90
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.9% and median household income $109,984, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 40% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 14% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,766 units authorized over the past twelve months, 18% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
701,462
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$109,984
Top 3% nationally
Density
839/sq mi
835.9 sq mi of land
Median age
39.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Will County
Illinois
Nearest major airport
GYY
31 mi · Gary/Chicago Intl
Median home value
$319,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% — higher than in all but 24% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.2% over the past year, to 363,612 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $109,984 is higher than in 97% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$83,75185th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$82,33489th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,8192024 ACS 5-Year$109,984Top 3%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6642024 ACS 5-Year$47,516Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$67,627Top 21%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.6 minBottom 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year37.5%Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year72.9%24th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026363,612Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.4%Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.2%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026382,22294th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year82.7%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.0%94th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.3%Bottom 21%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.9%Bottom 24%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year14.7%86th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.23.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024110k96k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $109,984 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand157,920$40,550
General and Operations Managers122,930$109,390
Home Health and Personal Care Aides108,520$38,180
Registered Nurses100,240$100,490
Cashiers99,240$35,010
Fast Food and Counter Workers97,280$34,630

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

40% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 172 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
203
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across 172 of them
Math proficiency
40.2%
Top 15% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
43.7%
Top 19% in Illinois
The 12 largest of 203 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lockport Township High Sch EastLockport Twp HSD 2053,67816.440%42%
Joliet West High SchoolJoliet Twp HSD 2043,45120.723%31%
Bolingbrook High SchoolValley View CUSD 365U3,29813.431%31%
Joliet Central High SchoolJoliet Twp HSD 2043,29518.315%18%
Neuqua Valley High SchoolIndian Prairie CUSD 2043,01814.774%72%
Lincoln-Way East High SchoolLincoln Way CHSD 2102,69618.258%58%
Plainfield North High SchoolPlainfield SD 2022,39917.654%51%
Lincoln Way WestLincoln Way CHSD 2102,04718.158%55%
Lincoln-Way Central High SchoolLincoln Way CHSD 2101,99115.256%59%
Romeoville High SchoolValley View CUSD 365U1,84813.633%36%
Plainfield East High SchoolPlainfield SD 2021,82516.244%41%
Plainfield High SchoolPlainfield SD 2021,80015.838%38%

44.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 102.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division is up 46% over five years, and up 6.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $7,173 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.24% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,781, some 22% above the $1,462 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,781 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $71,200 a year, about 65% of the median household income here of $109,984.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,462 a month.

A median home at $319,600 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $123,406, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
102.5

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,781
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,462
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$319,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Will County’s median household income of $109,984, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area’s figure2023102.5Bottom 19%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+6.2%90th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+45.5%53rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+75.7%23rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.02024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 46%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year82.8%92nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1582024 ACS 5-Year254,27896th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,581Bottom 11%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,294Bottom 13%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,781Bottom 13%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$332024 ACS 5-Year$1,462Bottom 8%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,1522024 ACS 5-Year$319,60083rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$642024 ACS 5-Year$7,17399th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,8222024 ACS 5-Year$123,406Top 5%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year2.24%99th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.9%Bottom 21%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3622024 ACS 5-Year1,55781st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.3%4th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7972024 ACS 5-Year10,00591st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

43/ 100
Ranks 924 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 708,583 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1,766 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 1% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Will County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $83,751, close to the $82,334 of households that moved out.

At 2.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,766
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.5
Bottom 45% nationally
Year over year
−18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024709k697k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
24%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$83,751
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$82,334
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cook County, IL 12,890 people · 43% of arrivals
  2. DuPage County, IL 5,469 people · 18% of arrivals
  3. Kendall County, IL 1,045 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  4. Grundy County, IL 841 people · 2.8% of arrivals
  5. Kane County, IL 755 people · 2.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cook County, IL 7,548 people · 25% of departures
  2. DuPage County, IL 3,886 people · 13% of departures
  3. Kendall County, IL 1,694 people · 5.7% of departures
  4. Grundy County, IL 1,236 people · 4.1% of departures
  5. Lake County, IN 834 people · 2.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+12%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHICAGO MIDWAY AP, 26.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year602024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals34.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals50°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
60
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

84 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 55% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 86% of measured US counties.

TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, lightning, ice storm, hail, landslide, wildfire, strong wind, drought, hurricane, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Will County records 2.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 6.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 8.0 per 100,000 residents in Will County.

Homicide
2.1
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
8.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
10.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Will County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Gary/Chicago Intl at 31 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year94.1%Top 4%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle31 miTop 44%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%Top 6%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY31 mi8,859 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD37 mi11,245 ft
Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-NormalBMI83 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
65
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.