State profile · IL

Largest Cities in Illinois

Name: Illinois Cities: Population, Income & Housing Data
Creator: PlainCities
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Ranked by resident population across 1,336 tracked cities and towns in Illinois, using Census ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023). This compares cities and Census-designated places, not metropolitan areas, and carries the same rows into the chart, table, and downloadable CSV below.

Compiled by PlainCities

1,336
Cities: 11.2M
Combined city pop.: $75,646
Avg median income: 9.1%
Avg poverty rate

Data updated August 2026

The headline finding

Chicago is the largest of 1,336 tracked cities in Illinois, which ranks #21 of 52 nationally on avg median income.

Chicago
largest tracked city (2,707,648 people): #21
national rank, avg median income: 1,336
cities tracked in this state

Every figure here is read live from the same table rendered below.

Illinois's 1,336 tracked cities include 1 with over 1 million residents; 83% are small towns under 10,000 people.

<10K

1,112
10K-99K

216
100K-999K

7
1M+

1

What this shows Small towns under 10,000 residents are the largest group in PlainCities' Illinois coverage, with 1,112 of 1,336 tracked places. This is a count of profiled places, not a share of the state's population.

How we calculate this mix & the national home-value percentile below

Every tracked city in Illinois is bucketed by population: small town under 10,000; mid-size 10,000–99,999; large 100,000–999,999; megacity 1,000,000+. The national home-value comparison below plots Illinois's average tracked-city home value against all 52 US states/territories, ranked the same way as the per-city percentiles: the state's percentile is the share of states with a lower average home value. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.

Chicago

2,707,648
Aurora

179,867
Joliet

149,785
Naperville

149,424
Rockford

147,649
Elgin

114,106
Springfield

113,714
Peoria

112,126
Waukegan

88,919
Champaign

88,822
Cicero

83,223
Bloomington

78,703

What this shows Chicago, IL is the most populous city profiled in Illinois; the top 100 rows are listed below and the complete 1,336-row record is available as a CSV.

How Illinois ranks nationally

Avg median income

$75,646

#21 of 52 · highest income

Avg home value

$168,613

#38 of 52 · highest values

Avg poverty rate

9.1%

#25 of 52 · lowest poverty

Tracked cities

1,336

#4 of 52 · most tracked cities

Illinois ranks #21 of 52 nationally on average median income and #25 of 52 on average poverty rate, derived live by comparing it against every other tracked state. Averages are computed only across the cities PlainCities tracks in each state, not full state populations.

How Illinois's home values compare nationally

Average tracked-city home value vs. all 52 US states/territories

$168,613 Among the most affordable more affordable than 73% of 52 US states

Show national distribution

Each bar is a $50K-wide band; taller bars hold more US states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Largest cities in Illinois

Showing the 100 most-populous tracked places, ordered by population. Download the CSV for every one of the 1,336 city records and their source-backed fields.

#	City	Population	Median Income	Home Value	Poverty
1	Chicago	2,707,648	$75,134	$315,200	13.0%
2	Aurora	179,867	$90,109	$260,400	8.0%
3	Joliet	149,785	$88,026	$248,600	9.2%
4	Naperville	149,424	$150,937	$509,900	3.0%
5	Rockford	147,649	$53,328	$120,900	16.7%
6	Elgin	114,106	$88,316	$252,400	8.9%
7	Springfield	113,714	$65,537	$155,200	11.2%
8	Peoria	112,126	$58,716	$149,500	13.6%
9	Waukegan	88,919	$70,578	$177,600	10.9%
10	Champaign	88,822	$57,544	$199,700	9.1%
11	Cicero	83,223	$68,548	$236,000	10.0%
12	Bloomington	78,703	$75,449	$198,800	8.2%
13	Schaumburg	76,780	$94,690	$312,200	4.3%
14	Evanston	76,552	$95,766	$472,300	5.0%
15	Arlington Heights	76,220	$118,532	$403,200	5.2%
16	Bolingbrook	73,813	$107,552	$295,500	7.1%
17	Decatur	70,368	$50,809	$97,300	13.3%
18	Palatine	66,548	$95,950	$347,900	7.6%
19	Skokie	66,427	$93,550	$368,600	7.9%
20	Des Plaines	59,408	$94,303	$318,200	3.6%
21	Orland Park	57,961	$98,979	$349,400	5.6%
22	Oak Lawn	57,098	$82,493	$267,900	6.0%
23	Berwyn	55,888	$75,235	$286,000	8.3%
24	Mount Prospect	55,648	$103,911	$377,000	4.3%
25	Tinley Park	55,007	$103,819	$289,000	2.8%
26	Wheaton	53,453	$119,566	$447,700	3.0%
27	Oak Park	53,315	$108,026	$456,300	3.5%
28	Normal	52,908	$66,350	$199,900	6.2%
29	Hoffman Estates	51,186	$109,683	$340,400	3.6%
30	Downers Grove	49,867	$119,649	$439,000	3.3%
31	Glenview	47,682	$138,758	$598,800	3.5%
32	Plainfield	45,705	$142,265	$398,000	2.6%
33	Elmhurst	45,538	$145,374	$532,800	2.2%
34	Lombard	43,722	$97,253	$321,200	4.6%
35	Buffalo Grove	42,824	$129,820	$392,900	5.3%
36	Moline	42,235	$63,959	$141,900	12.4%
37	Belleville	41,722	$60,529	$131,000	8.9%
38	Romeoville	40,996	$100,022	$245,200	3.9%
39	Bartlett	40,531	$130,479	$350,500	1.5%
40	DeKalb	40,464	$46,564	$202,900	18.9%
41	Crystal Lake	40,436	$105,428	$287,400	4.1%
42	Carol Stream	39,427	$105,395	$308,700	4.8%
43	Park Ridge	39,241	$138,059	$539,300	2.1%
44	Quincy	39,188	$56,372	$146,100	10.1%
45	Streamwood	39,055	$101,049	$258,300	6.3%
46	Wheeling	38,495	$83,251	$244,600	6.9%
47	Urbana	38,447	$45,854	$186,300	11.1%
48	Carpentersville	37,544	$86,327	$225,200	10.0%
49	Hanover Park	36,850	$92,263	$260,900	12.4%
50	Rock Island	36,758	$57,292	$118,400	13.4%
51	Addison	35,470	$87,587	$318,000	8.0%
52	Oswego	35,463	$119,881	$319,000	1.3%
53	Calumet City	35,253	$53,991	$133,600	18.5%
54	Northbrook	34,642	$155,321	$644,100	2.4%
55	Woodridge	33,889	$97,263	$345,200	2.9%
56	Glendale Heights	32,864	$82,232	$249,000	7.4%
57	St. Charles	32,733	$115,350	$369,700	1.3%
58	O'Fallon	32,139	$102,793	$274,100	3.1%
59	Elk Grove Village	32,132	$95,216	$334,400	5.1%
60	Pekin	31,812	$58,355	$118,200	9.8%
61	Mundelein	31,632	$107,608	$285,600	6.2%
62	North Chicago	30,772	$56,815	$147,800	17.8%
63	Gurnee	30,486	$121,410	$331,100	2.2%
64	Niles	30,262	$78,563	$350,900	5.9%
65	Highland Park	30,229	$161,875	$594,400	1.2%
66	Algonquin	29,904	$131,753	$324,000	2.4%
67	Galesburg	29,653	$45,213	$89,800	13.9%
68	Lake in the Hills	28,853	$113,491	$296,400	1.7%
69	Burbank	28,822	$83,975	$258,900	8.2%
70	Danville	28,663	$44,239	$76,800	18.9%
71	Lansing	28,415	$71,805	$168,500	11.2%
72	Glen Ellyn	28,270	$133,346	$522,600	3.6%
73	Huntley	27,859	$86,349	$318,500	5.4%
74	McHenry	27,774	$86,865	$244,900	1.6%
75	Wilmette	27,550	$192,300	$802,200	2.8%
76	New Lenox	27,456	$133,071	$377,500	1.7%
77	Round Lake Beach	27,081	$86,632	$191,200	8.0%
78	Chicago Heights	26,938	$57,479	$149,900	19.8%
79	Oak Forest	26,888	$87,941	$247,800	4.1%
80	Vernon Hills	26,772	$120,625	$384,800	3.6%
81	Batavia	26,730	$119,167	$358,000	3.4%
82	Granite City	26,670	$60,490	$99,800	11.2%
83	Edwardsville	26,543	$92,671	$286,700	3.6%
84	Woodstock	26,316	$83,293	$231,100	5.8%
85	Lockport	26,228	$113,252	$298,800	4.7%
86	West Chicago	25,434	$100,568	$306,500	9.7%
87	Alton	25,430	$53,005	$99,500	17.7%
88	Morton Grove	24,687	$106,078	$377,000	7.4%
89	Homer Glen	24,516	$128,546	$400,000	3.6%
90	Melrose Park	24,513	$64,740	$265,000	8.6%
91	Belvidere	24,510	$62,462	$153,100	10.9%
92	Zion	24,466	$62,574	$179,100	13.1%
93	Kankakee	24,384	$45,119	$105,500	21.0%
94	Westmont	24,201	$83,622	$369,100	7.2%
95	Collinsville	24,126	$65,170	$157,700	9.4%
96	South Elgin	23,984	$123,744	$296,100	4.5%
97	Elmwood Park	23,982	$84,121	$325,000	5.2%
98	Rolling Meadows	23,981	$100,424	$299,700	4.9%
99	Freeport	23,636	$48,181	$86,100	13.2%
100	Blue Island	23,416	$60,965	$169,800	9.9%

What to do with Illinois's city data

1,336 cities is a lot to browse, here's where to start.

Chicago is Illinois's largest tracked city by population, start there if you want the fullest picture of a major IL metro. Chicago profile
5 tracked cities in Illinois sit at the Census ACS top-code of $250,000 or more, so no single city can be named the highest-income. Browse the city table by income column instead of trusting a single crown. All Illinois cities
See how Illinois's cities stack up nationally, not just against each other. National rankings

City counts and averages on this page cover only the 1,336 places with sufficient Census ACS data, smaller towns below the reporting threshold are not included.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide similar states

Other states closest to Illinois on two ACS statewide axes: tracked-city population sum and mean of city median household incomes. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a claim that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar statewide population

Nearest 50-state peers by ACS population of tracked cities. This state: 11,210,441.

4 peers

Similar mean household income

Nearest peers by mean of city median household incomes. This state: $75,646. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

National city rankings →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cities does PlainCities track in Illinois?

PlainCities profiles 1,336 cities and towns in Illinois, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023).

What is the largest city in Illinois?

Chicago is the largest tracked city in Illinois, with a population of 2,707,648.

What is the average household income in Illinois?

Across the 1,336 tracked cities in Illinois, the average median household income is $75,646. Individual cities vary widely - 5 tracked cities in Illinois sit at the Census ACS top-code of $250,000 or more, so no single city can be named the highest-income.

What is the average poverty rate in Illinois?

The average poverty rate across Illinois's tracked cities is 9.1%, based on Census ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023).

Browse all city profiles → | Explore city rankings →

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Largest Cities in Illinois

Illinois's city-size mix

Largest cities in Illinois

How Illinois ranks nationally

Largest cities in Illinois

Nationwide similar states

Similar statewide population

Similar mean household income

Frequently Asked Questions

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