Largest Cities in Illinois: Ranked by Population

The largest city in Illinois in our data is Chicago, IL, with an estimated 8,604,203 people, followed by Rockford, IL (282,762) and Round Lake Beach, IL (279,381). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 343 Illinois communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 50 in Illinois?

How big are the largest cities in Illinois?

Of the 343 places with pages, 11 have more than 100,000 residents, 82 have between 25,000 and 100,000, and 250 have fewer than 25,000. The median place has about 14,175 people. The ten largest places account for about 61% of the combined population of all pages, which shows how concentrated the state's population is across communities. Cook County contributes 19 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 20 counties of Illinois. Cook County has 19 (Chicago, Cicero, Arlington Heights, Evanston, Schaumburg, Palatine, Skokie, Des Plaines, O); DuPage County has 6 (Naperville, Wheaton, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Lombard, Carol Stream); Will County has 4 (Joliet, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, Romeoville). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does Illinois compare with the rest of the country?

The median Illinois place with a page has about 14,175 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is about the same size as the national typical place. Chicago, IL ranks 3rd among all US places by estimated population in our data. The state has 1,362 communities in total, of which 343 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about Illinois cities

• Which is the largest city in Illinois? Chicago (8,604,203 people).
• How many Illinois cities have more than 100,000 people? 11 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 82.
• What is the typical size? About 14,175 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.