Living in Clarendon Hills: Schools, Commute, and Daily Life

What is the commute from Clarendon Hills to Chicago?

The commute from Clarendon Hills to Chicago runs on Metra's BNSF Line, which connects the village's downtown station to Chicago Union Station in the Loop. The Clarendon Hills station sits 18.3 rail miles from Chicago Union Station, and as of September 8, 2025 it was served by 59 weekday trains in both directions, according to the station record summarized on Wikipedia. The BNSF Line is one of Metra's busiest corridors, running west from Union Station through the western suburbs toward Aurora, with a mix of express and local trains across the day.

Because the platform is integrated into the Prospect Avenue downtown, many residents walk or bike to the train rather than drive to a remote lot. For travel by car, the village sits near Interstate 294 and Ogden Avenue, providing routes toward O'Hare and Midway airports and the wider expressway network. The table below compares the rail link with two common alternatives.

Route	Mode	Approximate distance to downtown Chicago
Metra BNSF to Union Station	Commuter rail	18.3 rail miles (Wikipedia)
I-294 / I-88 via car	Driving	Roughly 20 road miles, traffic dependent
Ogden Avenue (US-34) corridor	Driving / local	Parallels the rail line east toward the city

For households weighing the move around the commute, the Clarendon Hills neighborhood guide and the buying a home in Clarendon Hills overview add context on where homes sit relative to the station.

How walkable is the village downtown?

The downtown is walkable in the sense that its commercial core, the train platform, and surrounding residential blocks are concentrated within a small area. Clarendon Hills occupies about 1.81 square miles of land, per the village profile summarized on Wikipedia, which places most homes within a short distance of Prospect Avenue. Prospect Avenue itself runs alongside the BNSF tracks, so the storefronts, restaurants, and the Metra station share the same few blocks at the center of the village.

This compact geometry shapes daily routines. Residents often combine a stop downtown with a walk to the train, and the village's annual street events temporarily close portions of Prospect Avenue to traffic. Entities that anchor the center of town include the Clarendon Hills Metra station, Prospect Park, the Prospect Avenue business district, and Notre Dame School and church nearby. For a fuller picture of the streets and housing stock around downtown, see the Clarendon Hills neighborhood guide.

What schools serve Clarendon Hills?

Clarendon Hills students are served by two public districts: Community Consolidated School District 181 for elementary and middle grades, and Hinsdale Township High School District 86 for high school. Within District 181, Walker School and Prospect School serve elementary grades, and Clarendon Hills Middle School serves the middle grades. High school students attend Hinsdale Central High School in neighboring Hinsdale, part of District 86.

The GreatSchools ratings for these schools, each on a 1-to-10 scale, are listed below. Walker School holds a rating of 9 out of 10 for grades K-5, per GreatSchools. Clarendon Hills Middle School holds a rating of 8 out of 10 for grades 6-8, per GreatSchools. Hinsdale Central High School holds a rating of 9 out of 10 for grades 9-12, per GreatSchools.

School	District	Grades	GreatSchools rating
Walker School	CCSD 181	K-5	9/10
Clarendon Hills Middle School	CCSD 181	6-8	8/10
Hinsdale Central High School	Township HSD 86	9-12	9/10

Prospect School is the second District 181 elementary school within the village; families comparing attendance boundaries can confirm assignments directly with the district, since boundaries determine which elementary school a given address feeds into.

What parks and community events are there?

Public recreation in Clarendon Hills centers on Prospect Park, the village's signature green space near the center of town, supplemented by smaller neighborhood parks and the surrounding DuPage County forest preserve network. Prospect Park hosts open lawn space and serves as a gathering point during the warmer months, when several of the village's recurring events take place.

The community calendar is anchored by two long-running traditions. Daisy Days, the village's summer festival organized with the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce, was scheduled for June 19, 2026, with carnival rides, food, and live music, per FestivalNet. The Dancin' in the Street concert series runs on Wednesday evenings downtown along Prospect Avenue across mid-summer, as described by the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce. These events draw residents to the same downtown blocks that host the train station and shops, reinforcing the village's compact center.

Where do people shop and dine?

Most everyday shopping and dining is clustered along the Prospect Avenue downtown, with additional retail along the Ogden Avenue commercial corridor that runs through the area. The downtown holds a walkable mix of independent restaurants, cafes, and service businesses within the few blocks framing the Metra platform, while Ogden Avenue carries larger-format and auto-oriented stores. Neighboring Hinsdale adds a further downtown district a short distance away, giving residents a second nearby commercial center.

The economic profile of the village provides context for its retail mix. As of the 2024 American Community Survey data summarized on Data USA, the median household income in Clarendon Hills was $130,388 and the median property value was $605,800. Those figures, alongside the 2020 Census population of 8,702 reported on Wikipedia, describe a small village whose commercial core is sized to serve its residents and the surrounding western-suburb communities. For households evaluating a purchase or sale here, the buying a home in Clarendon Hills and selling a home in Clarendon Hills guides offer further detail on the local market.