Tinley Park, Illinois

Tinley Park is a village in Cook and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 55,971 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 54,856 in 2024.

In the late 19th century, the expansion of the American railroad network had a transformative effect on the area. Bremen was situated along the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, which played a pivotal role in the community's development. In 1890, the village was renamed Tinley Park in honor of Samuel Tinley Sr., the first station agent of the local railroad depot. The village was formally incorporated on June 27, 1892, when local residents voted 34–24 in favor of incorporation. Henry Vogt was elected as Tinley Park’s first mayor.

After its centennial in 1992, Tinley Park has focused on the renovation of its historic downtown district, which encompasses the Village's original 1892 boundaries. In this district, landowners are encouraged to maintain the sites' historic edifices or to create new, but "historically-friendly", facades for otherwise modern buildings built in the last 30 years. Downtown renovation projects have included the opening of a park near the Oak Park Avenue Metra train station, as well as the recent South Street Project, a multimillion-dollar project that will create more than 220 apartments and of commercial retail space.

Since its opening in 1990, the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre (originally World Music Theater, among other names) has been a major outdoor music venue in the Chicago area, accommodating around 28,000 people per event. The amphitheater, which has hosted numerous musicians and festivals over its 30+ years in operation, features an overhead-covered seated section with open sides, and a large, sloping grass lawn area at the back.

On February 2, 2008, a mass shooting occurred at Lane Bryant in Brookside Marketplace on the Will County side of the village. The store closed after the shooting. The shooter has never been caught.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and (0.07%) is water.

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 2020 Census !! Pop. 1990 !! Pop. 2000 !! Pop. 2010 !!

| White alone (NH)

| 25,004 (95.52%) || 35,036 (94.38%) || 43,787 (90.47%) || 47,858 (84.40%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |43,852 (78.35%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 442 (1.69%) || 601 (1.62%) || 923 (1.91%) || 2,062 (3.64%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3,540 (6.32%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 37 (0.14%) || 28 (0.08%) || 34 (0.07%) || 52 (0.09%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |7 (0.01%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 308 (1.18%) || 507 (1.37%) || 1,143 (2.36%) || 2,199 (3.88%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2,345 (4.19%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 8 (0.02%) || 6 (0.01%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |5 (0.01%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 11 (0.04%) || 5 (0.01%) || 41 (0.08%) || 29 (0.05%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |129 (0.23%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 467 (0.96%) || 599 (1.06%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,397 (2.50%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 367 (1.40%) || 944 (2.54%) || 1,998 (4.13%) || 3,898 (6.87%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |4,696 (8.39%)

| Total

| 26,178 (100.00%) || 37,121 (100.00%) || 48,401 (100.00%) || 56,703 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |55,971 (100.00%)

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 55,971 people and 15,009 families residing in the village. The median age was 43.0 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.5 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 22,006 households in Tinley Park, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.6% were married-couple households, 14.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 22,058 estimated households in Tinley Park with an average of 2.49 persons per household. The village has a median household income of $103,819. Approximately 5.2% of the village's population lives at or below the poverty line. Tinley Park has an estimated 62.8% employment rate, with 38.4% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 96.1% holding a high school diploma. There were 22,881 housing units at an average density of .

The top five reported languages (people were allowed to report up to two languages, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (84.4%), Spanish (4.4%), Indo-European (4.1%), Asian and Pacific Islander (1.8%), and Other (5.2%).

The median age in the village was 42.3 years.

Government

Tinley Park is divided between two congressional districts. Most of the village, including all the area in Bremen Township and Rich Township, as well as the area in Will County, is in Illinois's 1st congressional district; the area in Orland Township south of 167th Street, as well as most of the area southwest of 163rd Street and Ozark Avenue, is in the 3rd district.

Education

Tinley Park includes four public school districts – Kirby School District 140 (contains 5 grade schools, and 2 middle schools: Prairie View Middle School, and Virgil I. Grissom Middle School), Community Consolidated School District 146 (contains 4 grade schools, and Central Middle School), Summit Hill School District 161, (contains 5 grade schools, and Summit Hill Junior High School) and School District 159 (contains 4 grade schools, and Colin Powell Middle School).

The town also includes three parochial Pre-K through 8 elementary schools: St. George, which is Catholic; Trinity Lutheran, affiliated with the LCMS; and Southwest Chicago Christian School of Tinley Park.

Victor J. Andrew High School (Consolidated High School District 230) and Tinley Park High School (Bremen Community High School District 228) are both secondary schools located in Tinley Park. A small portion of Tinley Park students go to Lincoln-Way East High School. A small portion in the southwest part of the village also attends Rich Central High School.

Most residents of Tinley Park are located within the residency boundaries for Moraine Valley Community College; the rest reside in the community college district for South Suburban College. A very small portion of Tinley Park goes to Joliet Junior College.

Transportation

thumb|[[Tinley Park–80th Avenue station is one of two Metra stations in the village.]]

Metra trains access Tinley Park via the Rock Island District. There are two train stations in the village–Tinley Park station on Oak Park Avenue and 80th Avenue station. Pace provides bus service on Routes 356, 364 and 386 connecting Tinley Park to destinations throughout the Southland.

the village's east–west thoroughfare.
, the village's major north–south throughfare.
on the western corner of the village.
on the northern corner of the village.
the village's major north–south thoroughfare in Cook County.
the village's second major east–west thoroughfare.
located entirely in Tinley Park.

Notable people

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Emil Andres, Indy and Sprint car driver
Gary Bettenhausen, Indy and Sprint car driver
Merle Bettenhausen, Sprint car driver
Tony Bettenhausen, Indy car driver
Tony Bettenhausen Jr., Indy car driver
Miles Boykin, wide receiver for NFL's Chicago Bears
Tevin Coleman, running back for NFL's Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets
John Ericks, pitcher with Pittsburgh Pirates 1995–97
Armando Estrada, former wrestler with WWE
Nathan Everhart, wrestler with WWE
Gina Glocksen, season six finalist on American Idol
Michael Hastings, Illinois State Senator, 98th General Assembly
Garrett Jones, outfielder, first baseman with Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees
Stacie Juris, Miss Illinois Teen USA 2009 and Miss Illinois USA 2013
Christine Magnuson, Olympic swimmer (two-time silver medalist)
Real Friends, pop punk band
Kevin Sefcik, utility player with Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies
John J. Szaton, Polish-American sculptor and creator of Coal Miner
Kanye West, musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Jeremiah Wright, former minister to Barack Obama