Joliet, Illinois

Area Profile

150,445 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Joliet, in Will County.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 36% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,694th of 4,199 cities measured36
Schools2,830th of 4,162 cities measured36
Growth3,106th of 4,224 cities measured38
Housing affordabilityTop 40% of 4,218 cities measured70
Climate3,689th of 4,225 cities measured59
Physical resilienceTop 19% of 4,226 cities measured83
Access3,124th of 4,226 cities measured84
Economic stability2,307th of 4,226 cities measured55
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places Joliet in the bottom 12%.

In the public schools here, 25% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.9 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 312 units authorized over the past twelve months, 43% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
150,445
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$92,201
Top 23% nationally
Density
2,270/sq mi
66.3 sq mi of land
Median age
35.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Illinois
Nearest major airport
ORD
34 mi · Chicago O'Hare Intl
Median home value
$265,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.3% — higher than in all but 17% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 75,724 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWill County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$83,75164th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWill County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$82,33468th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,4432024 ACS 5-Year$92,201Top 23%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9282024 ACS 5-Year$36,812Top 41%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%Bottom 48%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.2 minBottom 29%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year25.5%Top 38%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year77.5%51st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202675,724Top 47%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.6%Bottom 29%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.9%Bottom 10%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202679,93754th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year80.7%Top 41%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$73,380Top 36%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$54,720Top 39%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%87th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.3%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%55th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.34.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.3% 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

202120222023202492k77k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $92,201 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.

25% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 30% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.9 students for every full-time teacher across 42 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
52
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.9
across 42 of them
Math proficiency
24.7%
Bottom 30% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
30.2%
Bottom 29% in Illinois
The 12 largest of 52 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Joliet West High SchoolJoliet Twp HSD 2043,45120.723%31%
Joliet Central High SchoolJoliet Twp HSD 2043,29518.315%18%
Plainfield South High SchoolPlainfield SD 2022,32317.135%33%
Hufford Junior High SchoolJoliet PSD 861,07213.217%22%
Timber Ridge Middle SchoolPlainfield SD 20288515.535%48%
Troy Middle SchoolTroy CCSD 30C88112.848%59%
Aux Sable Middle SchPlainfield SD 20284415.135%42%
Orenic Intermediate SchoolTroy CCSD 30C81211.838%49%
Washington Jr High & Academy PrgmJoliet PSD 8672414.225%26%
Drauden Point Middle SchoolPlainfield SD 20265813.730%42%
Dirksen Junior High SchoolJoliet PSD 8665314.29%12%
Thomas Jefferson Elem SchPlainfield SD 20264613.241%44%

65.5% 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 $5,694 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.14% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,948, some 53% above the $1,276 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,948 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $77,900 a year, about 84% of the median household income here of $92,201.

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 $1,276 a month.

A median home at $265,800 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $112,341, 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
31.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,948
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,276
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$265,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Joliet’s median household income of $92,201, 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 47%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+6.2%88th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+45.5%61st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+75.7%22nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 46%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%45th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7342024 ACS 5-Year53,81499th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,706Bottom 32%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,527Bottom 34%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,948Bottom 34%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$482024 ACS 5-Year$1,276Bottom 28%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,5942024 ACS 5-Year$265,80067th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$842024 ACS 5-Year$5,69492nd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,0882024 ACS 5-Year$112,341Top 19%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year2.14%94th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.3%Bottom 35%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±932024 ACS 5-Year14292nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%54th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%38th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4052024 ACS 5-Year2,75998th percentileof 32,3302024 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

38/ 100
Ranks 3,106 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 1% since 2020, reaching 151,837 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 312 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 5% 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, which contains Joliet, 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 2.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
312
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 43% nationally
Year over year
−43%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
5.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024152k150k
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. This is the figure for Will County, IL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025455226
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+43%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.8 inches.

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

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHICAGO AURORA MUNI AP, 24.5 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 Normals33.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°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

83 / 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 54% 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 81% of measured US cities.

TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
344
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,156
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Joliet's police department reported 344 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,156.

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Joliet’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Joliet (Will County) rather than Joliet itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chicago O'Hare Intl at 34 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year93.4%Top 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle34 miBottom 23%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%Top 36%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD34 mi11,245 ft
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY39 mi8,859 ft
Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-NormalBMI82 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
55
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Other cities in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ChicagoCook County2,711,22652Chicago vs Joliet
AuroraKane County179,89864Aurora vs Joliet
NapervilleDuPage County150,69270Naperville vs Joliet
ElginKane County114,93457
WaukeganLake County89,07659
CiceroCook County82,79747
SchaumburgCook County76,86862
HammondLake County76,76856
EvanstonCook County76,34064
Arlington HeightsCook County76,00565
BolingbrookWill County74,09660
GaryLake County68,11349

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Joliet side by side with a similar place.

Joliet vs HaverhillJoliet vs Burnsville

Moving to Joliet from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 codes in Joliet

6 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Joliet with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Joliet closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
6043548,167$76,369$235,50052
6058647,834$131,637$328,40063
6043127,138$122,870$294,30060
6043220,465$64,917$193,700—
6043619,423$62,961$180,800—
6043316,382$66,515$172,300—