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. Oak Park has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic villages.
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.
A relatively large number of people in Oak Park telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 22.63% 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.
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.
In Oak Park, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 34.29 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the village is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense 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 have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Oak Park. 71.76% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.
The per capita income in Oak Park in 2022 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.