Located along DuPage County's Research and Development Corridor (I-88 the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway) are Fortune 1000 companies such as Lucent, Molex, Tellabs, and Microsoft. Argonne National Laboratory and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are adjacent to the corridor to east and west respectively. These entities are on the cutting edge of research and development and have located in DuPage in part due to the availability of a creative and talented workforce.

Over 73% of County residents have had some college education and over 17% have a postgraduate education. These percentages are higher than the state and national averages. Additionally, firms operating in DuPage County have access to a workforce of over 4 million people. Many smaller information technology companies operate in the County as well, fueled by a burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit. These companies are constantly pushing the boundaries in the fields of medical research, nanotechnology, and health food manufacturing. View a list of occupational wages here.

Population with Some College Education

Area	Population	% of 25+ Cohort
DuPage	454,234	73.89%
State	4,984,635	59.96%
Nation	112,196,396	56.85%

Population with Postgraduate Education

Area	Population	% of 25+ Cohort
DuPage	104,703	17.03%
State	943,808	11.35%
Nation	20,317,232	10.29%

Source: Choose DuPage & Strategic Advantage

Median Household Income

	1990	2000	2008	% change '90-'00	% change '00-'08
Median household income	$48,876	$67,887	$77,033	38.90%	10.6%

Source: US Census Bureau 

DuPage County Labor Force

	2005	2006	2007
Labor Force	516,929	526,545	536,597
Employed	492,760	508,652	516,438
Unemployment Rate	4.7%	3.4%	3.8%
	2008	2009	2010
Labor Force	543,595	521,220	527,924
Employed	519,843	476,367	481,218
Unemployment Rate	4.4%	8.6%	8.8%