Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oak Park grades B overall, ranked 400th of 767 in Illinois. It is among the most walkable places in the country. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 98% of the country and its schools rank ahead of 86% of Illinois towns. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $480K, 5.3 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 15 places on the National Register. 73% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Oak Park, above both Illinois’ towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). Only 31 of Illinois’ 405 towns score lower on safety. Its National Register listings include Unity Temple and Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio.
Where Oak Park beats most towns.
Unity Temple is one of 3 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 15 National Register listings are more than in 95% of Illinois towns with a listing.
Census counts: 19,444 in 1910, 54,583 in 2020. The archive holds 28 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 7 maps from 1891 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Oak Park is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 12%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Oak Park. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw13 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw9 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Oak Park, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Oak Park.
Oak Park has less no health insurance than most of Illinois, has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings and has an unusually large share working from home.
Its widest gap with Illinois is no health insurance: 5.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 9.9% statewide.
8.8% of adults report frequent physical distress in Oak Park. Oak Park beats the Illinois average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Oak Park.
| Oak Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.3% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Oak Park | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 9.9% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.1% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median rent in Oak Park is $1,593 a month. Typical home values rose 10% in the year to September 2026. 60% of Oak Park households own their home.
| Oak Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,593 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 44% | 46% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Oak Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lindberg Park | 1.3 mi | 14 |
| 2. Maple Park | 0.6 mi | 8 |
| 3. Ridgeland Commons Park | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 1,875 to 1,689 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Oak Park’s property crime rate is 29.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Oak Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 29.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
31% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Oak Park for work: only 10% work in town. Jobs based in Oak Park grew to 17,103 in 2023, 1,062 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Chicago (48%), Maywood (2%) and Oak Brook (1%).
| Oak Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 31% | 11% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $111,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.4% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 71% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Oak Park since 1997.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Oak Park has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 42 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
57 within 15 miles of the center of Oak Park
About 6 of every 100 Oak Park residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Where Oak Park’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
15 places in Oak Park on the National Register of Historic Places.
52 notable people were born in Oak Park.
Village in Illinois, United States
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in 1902, when it separated from Cicero. It is closely tied to the smaller village of River Forest sharing a chamber of commerce and a high school, Oak Park and River Forest High School. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife settled in Oak Park in 1889, and his work heavily influenced local architecture and design, including the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. Over the years, rapid development was spurred by railroads and streetcars connect…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Oak Park.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Park · Oak Park Township | #400 | B | D | D | A | A+ |
| Chicago | #676 | C− | C− | D | C | B+ |
Oak Park Township and Oak Park are one community, graded once. Compare Oak Park with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. It grades A+ for health, D for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
52 notable people were born here, including Ernest Hemingway and Betty White.
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