Des Plaines is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 58,594 people and 21 associated neighborhoods, Des Plaines is the 20th largest community in Illinois.

Des Plaines real estate is some of the most expensive in Illinois, although Des Plaines house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

Also of interest is that Des Plaines has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Des Plaines telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 10.04% 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.

One downside of living in Des Plaines is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Des Plaines, the average commute to work is 30.53 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the city, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Des Plaines is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the train helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Des Plaines area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

The population of Des Plaines is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 38.10% of adults in Des Plaines have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Des Plaines in 2018 was $42,057, which is upper middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $168,228 for a family of four. However, Des Plaines contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Des Plaines is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Des Plaines home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Des Plaines residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Des Plaines also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 20.72% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Des Plaines include Polish, German, Irish, Italian, and English.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Des Plaines's cultural character, accounting for 30.78% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Des Plaines is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.