State
County
Land Area
227.4 sq mi
Density
11,783.0/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
-0.28%
Growth Since 2010
-0.61%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Metro Population
9,407,300
Chicago is a city located in Illinois. With a 2020 population of 2,679,080, it is the largest city in Illinois and the 3rd largest city in the United States. Chicago is currently declining at a rate of -0.28% annually and its population has decreased by -0.61% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 2,695,600 in 2010. Chicago reached it's highest population of 3,620,960 in 1950. Spanning over 234 miles, Chicago has a population density of 11,783 people per square mile.
The average household income in Chicago is $90,713 with a poverty rate of 18.39%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $1,112 per month, and the median house value is $258,000. The median age in Chicago is 34.6 years, 33.9 years for males, and 35.4 years for females. For every 100 females there are 94.7 males.
The latest estimate for the population of Chicago, Illinois comes from the US Census Bureau. They confirmed that, in July 2011, there were 2,707,120 people living in the city of Chicago. The population has been estimated to be approximately {pop}, with slow growth and declines attributed to violence, tax increases and issues with schools.
This estimate is based on extrapolating the 2010 census data, which reported that the city was home to 2,695,598 people. The 2010 census showed a dramatic drop of almost 7% over the previous ten years, so if the Census Bureau's 2011 figures are correct, they would appear to show Chicago tentatively entering a new period of growth.
The 2016 estimated population of 2.7 million makes Chicago the third largest city in the United States, behind New York City (8.55 million) and Los Angeles (3.97 million). Chicago is by far the largest city in Illinois, with the next largest city, Aurora, being under 200,000 people.
Today, Chicago the city makes up only just over a quarter of the wider Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Metropolitan Area's population. According to data from the 2010 census, the CJN Metro Area is home to an impressive 9,504,753 people. In 2016, this number is estimated to be around 9,554,598. Like the city of Chicago, the CJN Metro Area is also the third largest in the US, behind New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (20.18 million) and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (13.34 million) metro areas.
As the population of Chicago itself has gradually fallen, the population of its wider metro area has grown, representing both natural growth in those areas and a gradual move of the city's workforce into its suburbs. Like Chicago itself, the northern suburbs are relatively more affluent than its southern suburbs.
The city's white population is found primarily in the Northern part of the city, and its black community in the Southern part of the city (as can be seen from this map, in which red dots represent Whites, blue dots represent Blacks and orange dots represent Hispanics.) The geographical distribution of race in Chicago is mostly a result of Chicago's historically racist housing allocation policy, which forced its black population into the cheaper Chicago South Side.
Looking back into historical data also shows some interesting trends – non-Hispanic whites made up 59% of the residents of Chicago in 1970, falling to just 31.7% in 2010 – which indicates that many of the people leaving the city over the past few decades for the suburbs have been from among its relatively more affluent white population.
The best source for official data about Chicago from the 2010 census is, of course, the official census website. The census.gov Chicago quick facts page contains not only high-level data on Chicago's population, but also more detailed statistics on the average income in Chicago, the city's age distribution, its businesses, and other important facts.
You can also find some interesting data, including some useful Chicago population maps at the University of Chicago library website and a great news portal covering the 2010 census as it applied to the Windy City at the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
Finally, just as a word of caution to indicate that published statistics aren't always the final word, this article in the Chicago Tribune reports that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is challenging the results of the 2010 census. He believes that the census undercounted the city's population by around 200,000 people. Why is this so important to him? Because millions of dollars of federal subsidies, which are allocated based on relative population, are at stake.
Just around 200 settlers founded the town of Chicago in 1833, and almost immediately this small town on the US frontier became a boom town. Seven years later, the census came to town for the first time and recorded a healthy population of 4,000. Every ten years the census came, and almost every time it registered that the city's population had doubled or more. By the time the 1890 census rolled around, over a million people were living in Chicago, America's second largest city.
Growth, fueled by wave after wave of immigration; continued right up until 1950, where Chicago reached its highest ever population of 3,620,962.
Ever since then, Chicago has, like so many of America's grand cities, been in decline. Almost every census since 1960 has recorded a drop in population – sometimes as much as 10% in a decade – as the city's population gradually moves outwards to the more hospitable surrounding suburbs.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Chicago was:
2019 and 2020 population is estimated by projecting the raw 2018 numbers.
Year | Total Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 9,407,300 | -25,620 | -0.27% |
2020 | 9,432,920 | -25,620 | -0.27% |
2019 | 9,458,540 | -25,620 | -0.27% |
2018 | 9,484,160 | -29,950 | -0.32% |
2017 | 9,514,110 | -19,550 | -0.21% |
2016 | 9,533,660 | -18,890 | -0.20% |
2015 | 9,552,550 | -7,880 | -0.08% |
2014 | 9,560,430 | 10,240 | 0.11% |
2013 | 9,550,190 | 22,100 | 0.23% |
2012 | 9,528,090 | 27,220 | 0.29% |
2011 | 9,500,870 | 30,240 | 0.32% |
2010 | 9,470,630 | 0.00% |
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White | 1,354,590 | 49.99% |
Black or African American | 802,460 | 29.62% |
Some Other Race | 286,553 | 10.58% |
Asian | 179,530 | 6.63% |
Two or More Races | 77,090 | 2.85% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 8,495 | 0.31% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 816 | 0.03% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 1,066,830 | 2.48 | 45 |
Non Family | 500,025 | 1.31 | 33 |
Married | 349,836 | 3.44 | 66.9 |
Female | 162,968 | 3.68 | 35.3 |
Male | 54,000 | 3.59 | 44.1 |
3.42
Average Family Size
2.48
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 140,397 | 7.49% |
9th to 12th Grade | 138,529 | 7.39% |
High School Graduate | 422,420 | 22.53% |
Some College | 324,789 | 17.32% |
Associates Degree | 108,645 | 5.79% |
Bachelors Degree | 435,959 | 23.25% |
Graduate Degree | 304,281 | 16.23% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
White | 709,486 | 676,916 | 452,072 |
Black | 538,072 | 458,183 | 115,097 |
Hispanic | 468,098 | 320,344 | 77,398 |
Other Race | 169,881 | 105,361 | 21,191 |
Asian | 133,391 | 116,239 | 80,643 |
Multiple Races | 39,609 | 35,760 | 19,213 |
Native American | 6,031 | 4,375 | 1,452 |
Islander | 550 | 454 | 172 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among white people with a rate of 95.41%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among white people with a rate of 63.72%.
$43,327
Average Earnings
$47,776
Average Male
$39,740
Average Female
63.98% of Chicago residents speak only English, while 36.02% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 24.12% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Black | 784,065 | 229,545 | 29.28% |
Hispanic | 771,534 | 141,462 | 18.34% |
White | 879,692 | 78,166 | 8.89% |
Other | 284,658 | 55,836 | 19.62% |
Asian | 175,043 | 31,379 | 17.93% |
Multiple | 75,712 | 12,800 | 16.91% |
Native | 8,297 | 1,794 | 21.62% |
Islander | 754 | 221 | 29.31% |
18.39%
Overall Poverty Rate
16.45%
Male Poverty Rate
20.22%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Chicago is Islander, with 29.31% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Chicago is White, with 8.89% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 2.99%. Among those working part-time, it was 21.07%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 32.21%.
35.5%
Overall Marriage Rate
37.4%
Male Marriage Rate
33.7%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 35-44.
Name | Veterans | % of Total |
---|---|---|
White | 32,526 | 2.93% |
Black | 29,182 | 4.73% |
Hispanic | 8,399 | 1.51% |
Other | 2,102 | 1.03% |
2 or More | 2,065 | 4.27% |
Asian | 1,342 | 0.87% |
Indian | 256 | 3.66% |
Hawaiian | 66 | 10.46% |
11.39%
Veteran Poverty Rate
29.45%
Veteran Disability Rate
66.9%
Labor Force Participation
61.5%
Employment Rate
8.1%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
79.36%
Native Born
20.64%
Foreign Born
11.26%
Non Citizen
9.38%
Naturalized
79.36% of Chicago residents were born in the United States, with 59.19% having been born in Illinois. 11.26% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 2,679,080 | -7,450 | -0.28% |
2020 | 2,686,530 | -7,450 | -0.28% |
2019 | 2,693,980 | -7,440 | -0.28% |
2018 | 2,701,420 | -9,650 | -0.36% |
2017 | 2,711,070 | -5,650 | -0.21% |
2016 | 2,716,720 | -7,620 | -0.28% |
2015 | 2,724,340 | -2,730 | -0.10% |
2014 | 2,727,070 | 1,340 | 0.05% |
2013 | 2,725,730 | 6,590 | 0.24% |
2012 | 2,719,140 | 11,030 | 0.41% |
2011 | 2,708,110 | 10,630 | 0.39% |
2010 | 2,697,480 | -198,540 | -0.71% |
2000 | 2,896,020 | 112,290 | 0.40% |
1990 | 2,783,730 | -221,340 | -0.76% |
1980 | 3,005,070 | -364,290 | -1.14% |
1970 | 3,369,360 | -181,040 | -0.52% |
1960 | 3,550,400 | -70,560 | -0.20% |
1950 | 3,620,960 | 224,150 | 0.64% |
1940 | 3,396,810 | 20,370 | 0.06% |
1930 | 3,376,440 | 674,740 | 2.25% |
1920 | 2,701,700 | 516,420 | 2.14% |
1910 | 2,185,280 | 486,700 | 2.55% |
1900 | 1,698,580 | 598,730 | 4.44% |
1890 | 1,099,850 | 596,665 | 8.13% |
1880 | 503,185 | 204,208 | 5.34% |
1870 | 298,977 | 186,805 | 10.30% |
1860 | 112,172 | 82,209 | 14.11% |
1850 | 29,963 | 25,493 | 20.96% |
1840 | 4,470 | 0.00% |