Oak Park is a larger medium-sized village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 52,553 people and 14 associated neighborhoods, Oak Park is the 26th largest community in Illinois. Much of the housing stock in Oak Park was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic villages in the country.

Oak Park home prices are not only among the most expensive in Illinois, but Oak Park real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Oak Park has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Oak Park is also a village of artists. Oak Park has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Oak Park’s character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 22.63% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Another interesting thing about Oak Park, despite not being a huge village, is that there is a relatively high proportion of people living here who are young, single, and upwardly-mobile professionals. This makes it a good choice for other relocating single professionals. Here, these young singles will find many others like themselves, with opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

One downside of living in Oak Park is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Oak Park, the average commute to work is 34.29 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the village, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly village. Many of Oak Park’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the village are by private automobile, Oak Park is somewhat unusual for a village of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the subway helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Oak Park area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

If knowledge is power, Oak Park is a pretty powerful place. 71.76% of the adults in Oak Park have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Oak Park in 2018 was $66,755, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $267,020 for a family of four.

Oak Park is an extremely ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Oak Park home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oak Park residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Oak Park include German, Irish, English, Polish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Oak Park is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.