Chicago metropolitan area

The Chicago metropolitan area, also called Chicagoland, is the biggest area in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwest. It includes the City of Chicago and many towns and cities around it, spreading across 13 counties in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. In 2020, about 9.6 million people lived there, and when you count the nearby areas in Wisconsin, almost 10 million people call Chicagoland home. It is the third-largest metropolitan area in the United States.

Chicagoland has a rich mix of people, including many Latin American, Asian American, White, Black, Latino, Arab American, and Native American families. The area is very important for work, with many big companies based there, such as McDonald's and United. It also has top schools like the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

Getting around is easy thanks to many trains and buses. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) runs trains that work all night, every night, which is very special. There are also buses and other train services that connect different parts of the area, making it simple to travel wherever you need to go.

Definitions

Chicago Metropolitan statistical area

The Chicago metropolitan statistical area (MSA) started in 1950. It included several counties in Illinois and one in Indiana. As more people moved in and more worked in Cook County, the area grew. Today, it is called the Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area and is one of the biggest in the United States. In 2022, about 9.4 million people lived there.

The area is divided into four parts. These parts include many counties and their populations.

Combined statistical area

The combined statistical area (CSA) is a bit larger. It includes the Chicago MSA and a few other smaller areas. In 2022, about 9.8 million people lived in this larger area.

United Nations' Chicago urban agglomeration

The United Nations says that the Chicago urban agglomeration has about 8.9 million people. This means the people living close together in cities and towns around Chicago.

Chicagoland

Chicagoland is a friendly name for the Chicago area. It doesn’t have an official meaning and can include places far away. A newspaper editor first used the name in 1926. Today, different groups may think of Chicagoland a little differently, but it usually includes Chicago and many nearby places.

Collar counties

The "collar counties" are five counties around Cook County. They are often talked about together because they are close to Chicago and have many people.

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Main article: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning helps make plans for roads, land use, and jobs for many counties in Illinois. Over 8 million people live in the areas they plan for.

Panorama of North Avenue Beach

Geography and environment

Further information: Geography of Chicago

Taken from the ISS on June 23, 2022; downtown Chicago is at the center by the lake.

Chicago sits in a wide, flat area called the Chicago Plain. There are only a few small hills made of sand there. North of this plain, steep cliffs and deep valleys line the shore of Lake Michigan.

Along the southern edge of the plain, you can find sandy hills called dunes next to the lake. Some of these dunes grow as tall as almost 200 feet and are located in Indiana Dunes National Park. Around the plain are areas with higher, hilly land called moraines, found in the suburbs to the south and west. A special line called a continental divide runs through the area, separating water that flows into the Mississippi River from water that flows into the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.

Trees and forests cover about 21% of the land in the part of Chicago in Illinois. There are around 157 million trees, with the most common types being buckthorn, green ash, boxelder, black cherry, and American elm. These trees help store carbon, recycle water, and save energy.

Demographics

The Chicago metropolitan area, also known as Chicagoland, is home to over 9 million people. As of 2022, the area had a population of 9,442,159, with a density of 1,312.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup includes 50.1% Non-Hispanic White, 23.4% Hispanic, 15.5% Non-Hispanic African Americans, 7.2% Asian, and smaller percentages of other groups.

The area has many different heritages. The largest ancestries include Mexican, African, German, Irish, Polish, Italian, English, Indian, Puerto Rican, Filipino, Swedish, and Chinese. Suburbs around Chicago have grown quickly since the 1960s, with some areas expanding faster than others.

Population density in the Chicago urban area

Ancestry	Number in 2023 (Alone)	Number as of 2023 (Alone or in any combination)	% Total
Mexican	—	1,702,582	18.4%
Black or African American (Including Afro-Caribbean & Sub-Saharan African)	1,454,774	1,640,932	17.7%
German	258,719	1,171,467	12.6%
Irish	228,668	920,413	9.9%
Polish	308,727	721,538	7.8%
Italian	171,860	573,170	6.2%
English	111,705	448,481	4.8%
Indian	233,793	248,606	2.7%
American (Mostly old-stock white Americans of British descent)	160,656	224,204	2.4%
Puerto Rican	—	206,682	2.2%
Filipino	121,749	157,730	1.7%
Swedish	26,644	143,476	1.5%
Chinese	113,354	137,286	1.5%
French	10,665	106,879	1.2%
Dutch	28,209	96,060	1.0%
Arab	66,215	94,913	1.0%
Scottish	16,268	89,240	1.0%
Greek	37,976	85,501	0.9%
Norwegian	21,289	85,404	0.9%
Russian	28,348	78,252	0.8%
Czech	19,212	72,058	0.8%
Ukrainian	47,806	69,266	0.7%
Indigenous Latin American	38,200	64,863	0.7%
Korean	49,779	62,325	0.7%
Lithuanian	24,763	59,359	0.6%
Pakistani	41,457	47,078	0.5%
Nigerian	31,833	41,263	0.4%
Guatemalan	—	40,847	0.4%
Ecuadorian	—	38,590	0.4%
Hungarian	10,626	37,658	0.4%
Colombian	—	37,451	0.4%
Croatian	11,316	36,601	0.4%
Scotch-Irish	8,216	32,606	0.4%
Romanian	20,218	31,904	0.3%
Japanese	14,823	31,055	0.3%
Vietnamese	24,447	31,007	0.3%

Population

As the Chicago metropolitan area has grown, more counties have been added with each census.

Counties shown in gray were not part of the main area at that time. The totals in blue include all the counties listed, whether they were part of the area then or not.

Principal municipalities

Over 1,000,000 population

Chicago (2,746,388)

Over 100,000 population

Aurora, Illinois (180,542)
Joliet, Illinois (150,362)
Naperville, Illinois (149,540)
Elgin, Illinois (114,797)

Over 50,000 population

View of Chicago greater metropolitan region and the North branch of the Chicago River from the Willis Tower

Urban areas within

Within the 16-county Chicago Combined Statistical Area is the Chicago urban area, along with 26 smaller urban areas. Some of these smaller areas may reach into other regions, but only those mainly inside the Chicago area are listed here.

Census Area	Area Type	2020 census	2010 census	2000 census	1990 census	1980 Census	1970 census	1960 census	1950 census
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI	Metropolitan	9,618,502	9,461,105	9,098,316	8,065,633	7,869,542	7,612,314	6,794,461	5,495,364
Cook County, Illinois	Metropolitan	5,275,541	5,194,675	5,376,741	5,105,067	5,253,655	5,492,369	5,129,725	4,508,792
DeKalb County, Illinois	Metropolitan	100,420	105,160	88,969	77,932	74,624	71,654	51,714	40,781
DuPage County, Illinois	Metropolitan	932,877	916,924	904,161	781,666	658,835	491,882	313,459	154,599
Grundy County, Illinois	Metropolitan	52,533	50,063	37,535	32,337	30,582	26,535	22,350	19,217
Kane County, Illinois	Metropolitan	516,522	515,269	404,119	317,471	278,405	251,005	208,246	150,388
Kendall County, Illinois	Metropolitan	131,869	114,736	54,544	39,413	37,202	26,374	17,540	12,115
McHenry County, Illinois	Metropolitan	310,229	308,760	260,077	183,241	147,897	111,555	84,210	50,656
Will County, Illinois	Metropolitan	696,355	677,560	502,266	357,313	324,460	249,498	191,617	134,336
Jasper County, Indiana	Metropolitan	32,918	33,478	30,043	24,960	26,138	20,429	18,842	17,031
Lake County, Indiana	Metropolitan	498,700	496,005	484,564	475,594	522,965	546,253	513,269	368,152
Newton County, Indiana	Metropolitan	13,830	14,244	14,566	13,551	14,844	11,606	11,502	11,006
Porter County, Indiana	Metropolitan	173,215	164,343	146,798	128,932	119,816	87,114	60,279	40,076
Lake County, Illinois	Metropolitan	714,342	703,462	644,356	516,418	440,372	382,638	293,656	179,097
Kenosha County, Wisconsin	Metropolitan	169,151	166,426	149,577	128,181	123,137	117,917	100,615	75,238
Kankakee County, Illinois	Combined	107,502	113,449	103,833	96,255	102,926	97,250	92,063	73,524
LaSalle County, Illinois	Combined	109,658	113,924	111,509	106,913	112,003	111,409	110,800	100,610
Bureau County, Illinois	Combined	33,244	34,978	35,503	35,688	39,114	38,541	37,594	37,711
Putnam County, Illinois	Combined	5,637	6,006	6,086	5,730	6,085	5,007	4,570	4,746
LaPorte County, Indiana	Combined	112,417	111,467	110,106	107,066	108,632	105,342	95,111	76,808
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI	Combined	9,986,960	9,686,021	9,312,255	8,385,397	8,264,490	8,089,421	7,204,198	5,911,816

Urban area	Population (2020 census)	Land area (sq mi)	Land area (km²)	Density (population / sq mi)	Density (population / km²)
Chicago, IL–IN	8,671,746	2,337.89	6,055.09	3,709.2	1,432.1
Round Lake Beach–McHenry–Grayslake, IL–WI	261,835	127.61	330.52	2,051.8	792.2
Kenosha, WI	125,865	56.17	145.48	2,240.8	865.2
Michigan City–La Porte, IN–MI	71,367	49.16	127.32	1,451.7	560.5
Kankakee, IL	66,530	31.66	82.00	2,101.4	811.3
DeKalb, IL	64,736	25.63	66.39	2,525.6	975.1
Valparaiso–Shorewood Forest, IN	51,867	33.64	87.12	1,542.0	595.4
Peru–LaSalle, IL	29,763	21.45	55.56	1,387.4	535.7
Woodstock, IL	25,298	9.31	24.10	2,718.7	1,049.7
Ottawa, IL	20,122	9.99	25.87	2,014.2	777.7
Streator, IL	16,209	8.12	21.04	1,995.3	770.4
Coal City–Braidwood, IL	15,837	10.29	26.65	1,539.4	594.4
Morris, IL	15,740	8.64	22.37	1,822.2	703.5
Lowell, IN	10,747	5.28	13.66	2,037.2	786.6
Manteno, IL	10,437	6.01	15.56	1,736.8	670.6
Harvard, IL	9,376	4.36	11.30	2,148.7	829.6
Princeton, IL	7,979	6.20	16.06	1,287.1	497.0
Marengo, IL	7,509	3.81	9.86	1,971.5	761.2
Lake Holiday, IL	7,313	4.30	11.14	1,700.5	656.6
Mendota, IL	6,918	2.85	7.38	2,426.2	936.8
Wilmington, IL	6,388	3.95	10.23	1,617.3	624.5
McHenry Northwest–Wonder Lake, IL	5,758	2.35	6.08	2,453.6	947.4
Hampshire, IL	5,699	2.72	7.06	2,091.4	807.5
Rensselaer, IN	5,509	3.23	8.37	1,703.9	657.9
Genoa, IL	5,484	2.20	5.69	2,498.0	964.5
Westville, IN	5,189	2.10	5.45	2,466.0	952.1
Marseilles, IL	4,660	2.39	6.19	1,948.4	752.3

Economy

Main article: Economy of Chicago

Westward view from the Willis Tower in Chicago

The Chicago metropolitan area is home to the headquarters of 57 big companies, such as AbbVie Inc., Allstate, Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, Mondelez International, Motorola, United Airlines, and Walgreens. It is also a center for financial institutions, including Discover Financial Services, Morningstar, Inc., and CNA Financial.

Chicago hosts the world's largest futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In the past, Chicago was famous for its Union Stock Yards, where many cattle and hogs were processed into beef and pork, earning the city the nickname "Hog Butcher for the World" from poet Carl Sandburg.

Today, the Chicago area's economy focuses on services like financial trading, higher education, logistics, and health care. The area has been successful in changing and growing its economy over time. In 2007, it led the United States in new and expanded business facilities.

Transportation

The Chicago metropolitan area has many ways to get around, including airports, trains, buses, and highways.

Major airports

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) (located in the adjacent Milwaukee metropolitan area)
Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) (located in the adjacent Rockford metropolitan area)
Gary/Chicago International Airport (GYY)

Commercial ports

Commercial freight

Chicago has been a key center for railroads in the United States since the 1800s. Almost all major railroads in North America serve the area.

Public Transit

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) helps manage public transportation for several counties in Illinois and one in Wisconsin.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) runs the city's rapid transit system, called the Chicago "L", and many bus routes in Chicago and some nearby areas.
Pace Suburban Bus provides bus and other ride services in the suburbs around Chicago.
Metra operates trains that connect Chicago to many suburbs:
- 4 lines serving southern Cook County and Will County
- 3 lines serving western Cook County, DuPage County, and Kane County
- 2 lines serving northern Cook County and Lake County
- 1 line serving northern Cook County, Lake County, and Kenosha County
- 1 line serving northwestern Cook County and McHenry County

The RTA will change to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) in June 2026.

The South Shore Line is another train service that goes from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana, passing through several counties in Indiana.

Several other transit systems serve areas outside the RTA region, such as Kenosha Area Transit, Kenosha streetcar, DeKalb Public Transit, River Valley Metro MTD, SHOW BUS, East Chicago Transit, Gary Public Transportation Corporation, V-Line, ChicaGO Dash, and Michigan City Transit.

Passenger Rail

Chicago Union Station is a major hub for Amtrak, the national passenger rail service in the United States. Trains that stop here include many different routes across the country. There are also other Amtrak stops in the Chicago area.

Major highways

Interstates

I-41 runs with I-94 toward Milwaukee.
I-55 is the Adlai Stevenson Expressway.
I-57 is sometimes called the "West Leg" of the Dan Ryan Expressway.
I-65 does not have a special name.
I-80 has several names, including the Borman Expressway and Tri-State Tollway.
I-88 is the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway.
I-90 has many names, including Jane Addams Tollway and Dan Ryan Expressway.
I-94 is known as the Tri-State Tollway and other names depending on the area.
I-190 is a spur to Chicago-O'Hare Int'l Airport.
I-290 is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway.
I-294 is the Tri-State Tollway.
I-355 is the Veterans Memorial Tollway.

Other main highways

US Routes in the Illinois part of the area include: US 6, US 12, US 14, US 20, US 30, US 34, US 41, US 45, and US 52.
Illinois Route 53 is a major north-south highway through several counties.
Historic US Route 66 ends in Chicago.

Major corridors

Besides the Chicago Loop, the area has important commercial areas, including:

Illinois Technology and Research Corridor, along the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (Interstate 88)
Lakeshore Corridor, along the Edens Expressway and Tri-State Tollway

Main articles: Transportation in Chicago and Roads and freeways in Chicago

Politics

The Chicago area has often supported the Democratic Party, especially in Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago and its many suburbs. The surrounding Collar counties used to favor the Republican Party, but recently they have been changing to support Democrats more.

McHenry County is the most Republican of the collar counties, still often voting for Republican candidates. Dekalb County, on the west side, leans toward Democrats because of the diverse city of Dekalb and its home to NIU. Kankakee County and Grundy County are the most Republican areas in the metro, partly because they are more rural.

2000 Presidential Election by Township

2008 Presidential Election by Township

2012 Presidential Election by Township

2016 Presidential Election by Township

2020 Presidential Election by Township

2024 Presidential Election by Township

**Chicagoland Presidential election results**
Year	Democratic	Republican	Third parties
2024	61.9% 2,325,189	36.5% 1,336,204	2.5% 93,943
2020	66.1% 2,691,170	32.1% 1,306,077	1.8% 72,586
2016	64.4% 2,400,444	29.5% 1,099,170	6.1% 226,879
2012	64.0% 2,139,672	34.6% 1,156,797	1.4% 48,478
2008	67.6% 2,460,746	31.1% 1,134,317	1.3% 47,069
2004	60.3% 2,055,714	39.0% 1,331,401	0.7% 23,076
2000	59.2% 1,789,820	38.1% 1,151,288	2.7% 83,554

Culture

Sports

Main article: Sports in Chicago

Chicago has many teams that play different kinds of sports. Some of the big teams are:

Baseball: Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox
Football: Chicago Bears
Basketball: Chicago Bulls
Hockey: Chicago Blackhawks
Soccer: Chicago Fire FC

There are also teams for women’s basketball and soccer, and other smaller teams that play baseball, hockey, and rugby. Chicago also has races like the Chicago Marathon and golf tournaments.

Cuisine

Further information: Chicago § Cuisine

Chicago has some special foods you might enjoy, like:

Media

Main article: Media in Chicago

Chicago has two big newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. There are also many TV channels and radio stations that broadcast news and shows to people living in the area.

Education

Further information: List of school districts in Illinois, List of school districts in Indiana, and List of colleges and universities in Chicago

Many school districts help students in the Chicago area learn and grow. The biggest one is Chicago Public Schools, with about 400,000 students. There are also private schools, religious schools, and special schools called charter schools. Not all students have the same chances to learn well, and this can depend on which school they go to.

The Chicago area has been important for new ideas in education. Some of these ideas came from places like the Winnetka Plan and the Gary Plan. For college, the University of Chicago started many new ways to teach, like the junior college idea. Today, you can find these special teaching methods at schools like the University of Chicago, Shimer College, City Colleges of Chicago, and Oakton College.

Area codes

Main article: List of Illinois area codes

The Chicago metropolitan area has had several area codes over the years. From 1947 to 1988, the Illinois part of the area used just one area code, 312, which also touched the 815 area code. In 1988, the new 708 area code was added, and 312 became only for the city of Chicago.

People often called people living in the suburbs "708'ers" because of their area code.

In 1996, the 708 area code was split into three new codes: 630, 708, and 847. At the same time, Chicago's 312 area code was running out of numbers, so the city was split into two area codes: 312 for the central business area and 773 for the rest of the city.

In 2002, the area code 224 was added to help with extra numbers for 847. In 2007, the area code 779 was added for 815, and in October 2007, 331 was added for 630. There are plans for more area codes in the future as numbers run out.