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.Oak Park is a decidedly white-collar village, with fully 93.14% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Oak Park is a village of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Oak Park who work in management occupations (16.28%), teaching (11.26%), and business and financial occupations (10.35%). 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. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 22.63% 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. One downside of living in Oak Park, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 34.29 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly village. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead. 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.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.
