Brookfield is a medium-sized village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 18,776 people and five associated neighborhoods, Brookfield is the 126th largest community in Illinois. Brookfield real estate is some of the most expensive in Illinois, although Brookfield house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Unlike some villages where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Brookfield is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Brookfield is a village of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Brookfield who work in office and administrative support (14.51%), management occupations (9.41%), and sales jobs (8.50%). Also of interest is that Brookfield has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Of important note, Brookfield is also a village of artists. Brookfield has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Brookfield’s character. A relatively large number of people in Brookfield telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.07% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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. In addition, Brookfield is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums. Because of many things, Brookfield is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Brookfield really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Brookfield perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live. In Brookfield, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.83 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the village is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Despite being a small village, Brookfield has a lot of people using the train to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the train are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.The citizens of Brookfield are among the most well-educated in the nation: 40.41% of adults in Brookfield have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Brookfield in 2022 was $46,739, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $186,956 for a family of four. Brookfield is a very ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Brookfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Brookfield residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Brookfield also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.36% of the village’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Brookfield include German, Irish, Polish, Italian, and English. The most common language spoken in Brookfield is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Slavic languages.
