Oak Park is a larger medium-sized village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 52,055 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 real estate is some of the most expensive in Illinois, although Oak Park house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.
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.
A relatively large number of people in Oak Park telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 27.66% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.
One thing noticeable about Oak Park, although not a huge village, is that it has a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. That’s because Oak Park is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Oak Park a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good 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 33.36 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.
Like elsewhere in America, most people in Oak Park use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Oak Park‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the subway. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.
Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Oak Park, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Oak Park is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 72.48% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.
The per capita income in Oak Park in 2022 was $69,420, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $277,680 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, Italian, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Oak Park is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.