This is a small community in a single neighborhood.
As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.
What do we mean by a neighborhood?
NeighborhoodScout® uses the official government designation for neighborhoods - the census tract.
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent subdivisions of a county that are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in conjunction with local authorities all across the country to define real neighborhoods that are bounded to contain areas with homogeneous population characteristics (including economic status, lifestyle, and living conditions). Census tracts usually have 4,000 persons, but can range between 1,500 and 8,000 persons. This is the most fine-grained area for which detailed information is made available from the government, to protect the individual privacy of each of us. Because census tracts are based on population, they vary in size depending on the density of settlement. In urban areas, they are small, and in rural areas they can cover an entire small town or even a few small towns in very rural areas.
Since census tracts are subdivisions of a county, we did a spatial overlay of the census tracts onto city and town boundaries using a geographic information system to properly assign each census tract to its appropriate city or town. Then we named each census tract to the local colloquially recognized neighborhood name for that spot (e.g., Boston, MA (Dorchester). If there was not a name available, we named the census tract by the largest street intersection in the census tract (e.g., Worcester, MA (Lincoln St/Plantation St)
Why we don't use Zip Codes as neighborhoods
Zip codes were developed by the Postal Service for the purpose of delivering mail, but were never intended to define coherent neighborhoods. In addition, Zip Codes can have as many as 10 distinctly different census tracts contained within them. When distinct census tracts are blended together in a single Zip Code, the data reflects their average conditions and often gives a false sense of the area. The result is that potentially great matching neighborhoods can be missed, and erroneous matches can also be produced and delivered to you.
Using census tracts makes great matches possible, and helps people find the areas that are best for them and their families. Because we are committed to providing the highest possible quality and finding the neighborhoods that best meet your criteria, we use census tracts. And, as always, we show you the actual street map of the neighborhood so you know exactly where your best matching neighborhood is located.
What is a Condition Alert?
A condition alert is a condition in the neighborhood that triggers an alert. NeighborhoodScout contains condition alerts to highlight conditions that are extreme, whether good or bad. This helps answer crucial questions about the state of the neighborhood being evaluated, such as:
What are the risks of violent crime here?
Is the risk of home break-ins or other property crimes increasing?
Does real estate here hold its value?
Are the trends in local vacancies or unemployment concerning?
...and dozens more.
Information at a glance that you need to know to invest, appraise or finance a property.
Olympia Fields is a very small village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 4,530 people and just one neighborhood, Olympia Fields is the 355th largest community in Illinois.
Olympia Fields real estate is some of the most expensive in Illinois, although Olympia Fields house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.
Occupations and Workforce
Olympia Fields is a decidedly white-collar village, with fully 93.95% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Olympia Fields is a village of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Olympia Fields who work in office and administrative support (14.47%), management occupations (13.29%), and sales jobs (11.80%).
Also of interest is that Olympia Fields has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 16.58% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.
Setting & Lifestyle
In Olympia Fields, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 36.16 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.
Despite being a small village, Olympia Fields has a lot of people using the train to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the train are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.
Demographics
Olympia Fields is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 48.89% of adults in Olympia Fields have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in Olympia Fields in 2022 was $48,120, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $192,480 for a family of four. However, Olympia Fields contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Olympia Fields is a very ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Olympia Fields home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Olympia Fields residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Olympia Fields include German, English, Irish, African, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Olympia Fields is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Olympia Fields, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Occupations
The neighborhood has a greater proportion of government workers living in it than 95.8% of the neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. This is a unique feature of this neighborhood, and one that shapes its character.
Modes of Transportation
In the neighborhood, 10.6% of people ride the train to work each day. This is a very high percentage compared to most places. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this is a higher level of train ridership than in 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
Length of Commute
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 9.8% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.4% of all neighborhoods in America.
People
is ranked among the top 6.5% of neighborhoods for first-time home buyers to consider in the state of Illinois according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Homes here are priced below median housing values in the state, yet maintain moderate appreciation rates compared to other communities. Buying into the neighborhood is not only an accessible option but an investment opportunity for many first-time home buyers. In addition to being an excellent choice for first-time home buyers, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives.
Diversity
Did you know that the neighborhood has more African and Haitian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 11.8% of this neighborhood's residents have African ancestry and 6.4% have Haitian ancestry.
The Neighbors
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Olympia Fields are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 60.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 10.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 51.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 54.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 25.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (13.3%), and 12.4% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 91.5% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (2.1%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Olympia Fields, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Sub-Saharan African (17.0%). There are also a number of people of African ancestry (11.8%), and residents who report Haitian roots (6.4%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (4.9%), along with some English ancestry residents (3.1%), among others.
Getting to Work
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (28.8% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (56.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (14.0%) and 10.6% of residents also take the train for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
SCOUT’s patented match algorithm identifies the most similar neighborhoods to a subject location, and quantifies the similarity to the subject location. This allows analysts to identify the most similar neighborhoods in a local market area for appraisals, investments, and research.
The algorithm uses 273 neighborhood conditions, identifies the dominant dimensions underlying the conditions and calculates the similarity. This captures the true culture and character of locations, economic conditions, and trends.
The closer to 100% means the locations are nearly identical. 80% is a very good, but not excellent match, and so forth.
