Joliet economy fueled by youth and growth in Hispanic population

Joliet is a young city with a Hispanic population that is propelling its growth, Will County Center for Economic Development CEO Doug Pryor said Wednesday.

Pryor made his comments while at a Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce luncheon on the economic outlook for 2024.

“Joliet is incredibly young,” Pryor said early in his presentation. “This is something we don’t talk about enough, and it matters.”

It matters, he said, because Joliet has a demographic capable of replacing an aging workforce, which is becoming a growing issue across the country.

The average age in Joliet is 33.5 years old, which is almost five years younger than the average age for Will County and the nation at 38, Pryor said.

“This foretells a growing future workforce in Joliet,” he said.

Pryor’s comments were not lost on Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy, who was in the audience and had made the city’s youth a point during his mayoral campaign last year.

“What I said was that we had 43,000 kids under the age of 19,” D’Arcy said after the presentation. “That really affects the demographics.”

D’Arcy pointed to other elements of Pryor’s presentation that included statistics showing growing job opportunities in Joliet and Will County.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for these kids if they stay in Joliet,” D’Arcy said.

Pryor also pointed to an expanding Hispanic population, which he said accounts for Joliet rising to the status of being the third-largest city in Illinois.

“Joliet owes all of its growth to the growth of the Hispanic/Latino community,” he said.

The Hispanic population has grown by almost 23% in recent years in Joliet, while other racial and ethnic groups have either stagnated or gone down in population, Pryor said.

“This is our growing market, and it’s something you should be paying attention to,” Pryor told the chamber audience.

Much of Pryor’s presentation also was devoted to economic growth in Will County, which he said ranks in Illinois as first in job growth since 2019 with 12,000 additional jobs, including 4,400 in Joliet.

Noting opportunities for people to work closer to home, Pryor said that only 21% of Joliet jobs are filled by people who live in the city.

Will County has added 12,000 jobs since 2019, and Joliet added 4,400 jobs in the same period, putting both among the state leaders in job growth.

The leading areas for job growth in Will County have been health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail.

The number of local residents working outside Joliet and Will County shows how important it is to view economic and transportation issues as regional, Pryor said.

“Your neighboring communities matter,” he told the Chamber audience. “Your neighboring partners matter. And transportation really matters.”