Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Work means Chicago for about half of Oak Park’s working residents
Working from home is the commute for 31% of workers, against 16% across Illinois. Oak Park grades A− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Oak Park and work: the main findings
Nearly half of Oak Park works in Chicago
12,588 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Chicago, 6.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 5 times as many as work in Oak Park itself. The commute map ↓
A lot of Oak Park works from home
31% of Oak Park workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Most Oak Park residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Oak Park’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 32 minutes, longer than the Illinois average of 28. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Oak Park
72% of Oak Park residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 54% of the jobs based in Oak Park pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Oak Park: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Park is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #255 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car holds Oak Park’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Park could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Commuting out of Oak Park: the destinations
Where Oak Park clocks in
48% of workers
2% of workers
1% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Oak Park: about 32 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Park workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,852 commuters (the 31% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Oak Park goes to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
17,103 jobs are based in Oak Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Park, 2013 → 2023: 16,041 → 17,103. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Oak Park
On a workday 23,588 residents head out to work, 2,584 work right here, and 14,519 people come in from elsewhere.
About 44,000 people are in Oak Park on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Oak Park is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Park is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #2 of 768 in Illinois. Both inputs place Oak Park near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 27,323 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 73% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 19.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 11.7% of Oak Park households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 19% of Oak Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oak Park places 289th of 837 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 37,000 to 71,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Bartlett IL | 40,855 | $133K | 4.2% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | New Lenox Township IL | 45,290 | $133K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Oswego IL | 39,948 | $124K | 2.6% | 2.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 287 | Shelton CT | 42,880 | $108K | 6.6% | 4.9% | 15% | A− |
| 288 | West Chester Township OH | 67,165 | $110K | 7.4% | 4.7% | 14% | A− |
| 289 | Oak Park IL | 52,823 | $111K | 7.4% | 5.6% | 10% | A− |
| 290 | Placentia CA | 54,911 | $116K | 7.9% | 5.5% | 6% | A− |
| 291 | Walnut Creek CA | 70,012 | $130K | 6.4% | 6.0% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 837 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Oak Park, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Work next door: 48% of Oak Park’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Chicago. Darker towns draw more of Oak Park’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Oak Park: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Park?
$110,820 (±$3,611) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Park?
7.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Park?
32 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Park work?
10% work in town.
Is Oak Park walkable?
Oak Park is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.6 out of 20, and 28% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Park without a car?
19% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 73% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Park
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.