Work & commute · Oak Park

Work & commute in Oak Park, IL

Most working residents leave Oak Park for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (48%), Maywood (2%) and Oak Brook (1%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

2,584 of 26,172 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

31%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 23,588 Oak Park residents head out of town to work, 2,584 work right here, and 14,519 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oak Park.

23,588live here, work elsewhere

2,584live and work here

14,519work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oak Park goes to work

Chicago6.4 mi away

48%12,588

Oak Park (in town)right here

10%2,584

Maywood2.8 mi away

2%443

Oak Brook9.1 mi away

1%365

Downers Grove13.5 mi away

1%329

River Forest1.6 mi away

1%312

Elmhurst7.9 mi away

1%307

Schaumburg18 mi away

1%267

Forest Park1.9 mi away

1%223

Des Plaines11.6 mi away

1%219

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%8,535

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Oak Park commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

72%

21%

72%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oak Park is a commuter town

0.65jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Oak Park are

17,103 jobs are based in Oak Park. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oak Park

17,103 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Oak Park residents hold

26,172 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+7%

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.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.