Photo: NS Zakeruga at English Wikipedia · Public domainOakbrook Terrace has 13.9 jobs for every working resident: 17,503 people commute in to work
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 36.9 in Chicago. Oakbrook Terrace has 17,540 jobs for 1,263 working residents. The two grades for Oakbrook Terrace are A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Oakbrook Terrace stands out on work
Oakbrook Terrace fills up on a workday
Oakbrook Terrace has 17,540 jobs, 13.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 19,000 people are in town, 7 times the 2,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Oakbrook Terrace and Chicago trade workers both ways
Chicago is the top workplace for Oakbrook Terrace residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Oakbrook Terrace come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Oakbrook Terrace draws workers from far and wide
The 17,540 jobs in Oakbrook Terrace are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 34%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A lot of Oakbrook Terrace works from home
25% of Oakbrook Terrace workers work from home, against 16% across Illinois. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Oakbrook Terrace pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Oakbrook Terrace pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
The figures behind Oakbrook Terrace’s Jobs & income grade
On family income, poverty and job access, Oakbrook Terrace is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #160 of 768 in Illinois. Job access by car is its strongest input (among the top U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (7.6%, U.S. 11.9%). It also does well on family income and the poverty rate.
21% of Oakbrook Terrace’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (22% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 7.6%, against 17.3% for all residents. Unemployment (3.7%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($103,583), since student households pull the household median down ($76,905).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Oakbrook Terrace could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Oakbrook Terrace’s population more than triples on a workday
On a workday 1,226 residents head out to work and 37 work right here.
About 19,000 people are in Oakbrook Terrace on a workday afternoon, 583% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Oakbrook Terrace’s workers come from
Where Oakbrook Terrace clocks in
21% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The daily trip from Oakbrook Terrace: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakbrook Terrace workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,068 commuters (the 25% 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.
Most jobs in Oakbrook Terrace are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakbrook Terrace, 2013 → 2023: 15,857 → 17,540. 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 Oakbrook Terrace’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Oakbrook Terrace commutes
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.
Oakbrook Terrace is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oakbrook Terrace is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #169 of 768 in Illinois. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 10.8% across Illinois.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,417 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 3.7% of Oakbrook Terrace households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Oakbrook Terrace’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800, Oakbrook Terrace ranks 504th of 4,703 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 502 | Kingston Springs TN | 2,758 | $103K | 5.6% | 3.0% | 4% | A |
| 503 | Star Prairie WI | 3,771 | $102K | 6.7% | 0.6% | 1% | A |
| 504 | Oakbrook Terrace IL | 2,792 | $77K | 17.3% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| 505 | Rockford Township MN | 3,474 | $93K | 0.9% | 3.7% | 2% | A |
| 506 | Milford Township OH | 2,039 | $91K | 0.9% | 4.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Oakbrook Terrace, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
Next door is work for 12% of Oakbrook Terrace
The biggest share goes to Oak Brook (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oakbrook Terrace workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakbrook Terrace | – | A | A | 27 min | $76,905 |
| Oak Brook | 4% | A− | A | 32 min | $175,870 |
| Villa Park | 3% | A | A | 27 min | $95,015 |
| Elmhurst | 2% | A | A+ | 29 min | $149,644 |
| Lombard | 3% | A− | A | 26 min | $100,362 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oakbrook Terrace’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.
- Students. 21% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Oakbrook Terrace: questions
What is the median household income in Oakbrook Terrace?
$76,905 (±$16,716) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakbrook Terrace?
17.3% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 7.6%. Illinois: 11.8%.
How long is the commute from Oakbrook Terrace?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakbrook Terrace work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (21%, 15 mi), Oak Brook (4%, 1 mi), Villa Park (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oakbrook Terrace walkable?
Oakbrook Terrace is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oakbrook Terrace without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oakbrook Terrace, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oakbrook Terrace
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.