[1] It is directly adjacent to O'Hare International Airport and is economically important to the Chicago metropolitan area due to its large industrial park, located on the eastern border of the village.

The land that is now the Village of Elk Grove was controlled by the Miami Confederacy (which contained the Illini and Kickapoo tribes) starting in the early 1680s.

The land that is now Elk Grove was ceded to the U.S. in this treaty, which sparked mass white immigration to the Northern Illinois area.

[7] The village was formally incorporated in 1956 in Elk Grove Township, and was founded as a planned suburban community.

[11] Prior to its development as a residential community, it was home to many farmers and their families (mostly German immigrants).

It was named after Ira Rupley, an executive vice president at Centex who helped lead the early development of the village.

New apartment communities were constructed in Elk Grove Village along Tonne Road and Ridge Avenue.

[10] In 1982, Elk Grove Village was briefly in the national spotlight with one of the first reported deaths in the Chicago Tylenol murders case with the death of 12-year-old Mary Kellerman, who died after taking a Tylenol capsule that was laced with potassium cyanide.

[16] In 2006, Elk Grove Village became one of the first municipalities in Illinois to enact a public smoking ban,[17] and in 2008 became one of the first Chicago suburbs to use red light cameras.

In June 2010, Elk Grove Village's Municipal Administration and Public Safety Complex was LEED Gold Certified by the US Green Building Council.

[28] Another prominent Pastor there was the Bishop Roger Pittelko of The English District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

[29] Elk Grove Village is home to the largest consolidated business park in North America.

[31][32] The Elk Grove business park is home to the largest concentration of manufacturers in the Midwest; the largest concentration of logistic freight companies in the United States, and the second-largest source of manufacturing in Illinois behind only the City of Chicago.

The village is home to many large data centers which rely upon the convergence of national fiber optic networks and natural gas lines in Elk Grove, which has other strategic advantages for business including the convergence of national fiber optic cables, national gasoline and oil pipelines, and a virtually unlimited supply of fresh water from Lake Michigan.

Elk Grove Village is home to Alexian Brothers Medical Center (ABMC) hospital, which is the largest employer in the community with over 2,200 workers.

There are a number of other well-known corporations including Apple Vacations, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), ADP, CitiGroup, Symons, and Pepsi Cola Distribution.

[35] The elk are currently maintained by the Chicago Zoological Society veterinary staff and the Busse Woods Forest Preserve wildlife biologists.

Pace provides bus service on Route 223 connecting Elk Grove Village to the Rosemont 'L' station and other destinations.