Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,171 at the 2000 census. Melrose Park had long been home to a large Italian-American population, although Mexican Americans now form the majority of the population. It also is the home of Kiddieland Amusement Park, Maywood Park Racetrack and Stern Pinball, Inc.. Stern Pinball is the world's last manufacturer of coin-operated pinball machines.
There is a railroad station in Melrose Park with daily service to Chicago.

Geography
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,171 people, 7,631 households, and 5,448 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,110.0/km² (5,465.7/mi²). There were 7,905 housing units at an average density of 719.8/km² (1,864.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 71.53% White, 2.92% African American, 0.49% Native American, 1.99% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 20.08% from other races, and 2.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 53.88% of the population.
There were 7,631 households out of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.61.
In the village the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $40,689, and the median income for a family was $46,963. Males had a median income of $31,353 versus $24,961 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,206. About 8.7% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.