As Matteson has flourished over the last 50 years, there have been some substantial alterations in its geography. Originally platted on a 40-acre parcel near the intersection of the two rail lines, the village has grown tremendously with the annexation of several housing subdivisions, and it now occupies more than 7 square miles of land. In 2000 there were some 4,712 housing units in the village, nearly two-thirds of them constructed in the last 30 years. Old Matteson, as the community's original center is sometimes called, has some of the feel of a traditional village, especially near Main Street and the railroad. However, most of the village's stores are located along the heavily commercialized Lincoln Highway and in two large shopping centers. In the late 1990s, Matteson officials created a "village commons" with a village hall and a bridge over Interstate 57.

Matteson is not the most exclusive of Chicago's south suburbs, but more than 80 percent of the houses in the village are single-family.