Politics In The 20th And 21st Centuries
In the early 20th century, the Chicago Traction Wars were a dominant controversy in Chicago politics.
Mayor Richard J. Daley served 19551976, dominating the city’s machine politics by his control of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee, which selected party nominees, who were usually elected in the Democratic stronghold. Daley took credit for building four major expressways focused on the Loop, and city-owned O’Hare Airport . Several neighborhoods near downtown and the lakefront were gentrified and transformed into “suburbs within the city”.He held office during the unrest of the 1960s, some of which was provoked by the police department’s discriminatory practices. In the Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Wicker Park and Humboldt Park communities, the Young Lords under the leadership of Jose Cha Cha Jimenez marched and held sit ins to protest the displacement of Latinos and the poor. After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, major riots of despair resulted in the burning down of sections of the black neighborhoods of the South and West sides. Protests against the Vietnam War at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago, resulted in street violence, with televised broadcasts of the Chicago police’s beating of unarmed protesters.
United Nations’ Chicago Urban Agglomeration
The Chicago urban agglomeration, according to the United NationsWorld Urbanization Prospects report , lists a population of 8,864,000. The term “urban agglomeration” refers to the population contained within the contours of a contiguous territory inhabited at urban density levels. It usually incorporates the population in a city, plus that in the contiguous urban, or built-up area.
Chicagoland is an informal name for the Chicago metropolitan area. The term Chicagoland has no official definition, and the region is often considered to include areas beyond the corresponding MSA, as well as portions of the greater CSA.
Colonel Robert R. McCormick, editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, usually gets credit for placing the term in common use. McCormick’s conception of Chicagoland stretched all the way to nearby parts of four states . The first usage was in the Tribune’s July 27, 1926 front page headline, “Chicagoland’s Shrines: A Tour of Discoveries”, for an article by reporter James O’Donnell Bennett. He stated that Chicagoland comprised everything in a 200-mile radius in every direction and reported on many different places in the area. The Tribune was the dominant newspaper in a vast area stretching to the west of the city, and that hinterland was closely tied to the metropolis by rail lines and commercial links.
Chicago Is A Biking City
- Chicago has the second-highest percentage of commuters riding their bikes to work
- Bicycle commute times in the region average only 23 minutes
- 303 miles of bike lanes
- 19 miles of lakefront bicycle paths along Lake Michigan
- 303 miles of bike lanes
- 13,000+ bike racks
- A 40-acre bike path for BMX and trail-riding
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Census: Black Population Grows In Suburbs Shrinks In Cities
Judy Ware poses for a photo outside of her restaurant in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Judy Ware is preparing to resume table service at the Ranch after struggling through the coronavirus pandemic.
CHICAGO A longtime area staple with its wagon wheel décor and Roy Rogers ribeye, The Ranch Steak House is fighting to reopen as one of the last sit-down restaurants in the once-flourishing Black Chicago neighborhood of Roseland.
Chicago Income & Labor Statistics

What is the unemployment rate in Chicago, Illinois?
The unemployment rate in Chicago is 8.1%, which is calculated among residents aged 16 or older who are in the labor force.
What percentage of Chicago, Illinois residents work for the government?
In Chicago, 11.5% of the residents in the non-military labor force are employed by the local, state and federal government.
What is the median income in Chicago, Illinois?
The median household income in Chicago is $58,247.
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Population Of The Chicago Metropolitan Area
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 and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana 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.
Population Growth Of Chicago
Looking back last ten years of Chicagos population, the growth rate is not very promising ranging from -0.37% to 0.37%, losing around 10,000 to adding 10,000 people each year to the overall population The growth stops since 2014. Last three years, it has recorded negative growth due to lack of opportunities in the city. Comparing with other cities in Illinois, Chicago population growth rate is aligned with the state average.
Year |
0.19% |
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Take In Chicagos Population From The Top Of Skydeck
One of the most exciting ways to get a handle on how many people are in Chicago is to get a birds eye view of the city from Skydeck! Located in the iconic Willis Tower, well help you see everything the city has to offer from a vantage point youll never forget. When you plan your next visit to Chicago, save time when you get tickets in advance!
Chicago City Illinois United States
QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more.
Population Estimates, July 1 2021, |
All employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 50,497 |
Men-owned employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 30,205 |
Women-owned employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 10,807 |
Minority-owned employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 11,729 |
Nonminority-owned employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 33,170 |
Veteran-owned employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 1,861 |
Nonveteran-owned employer firms, Reference year 2017 | 42,885 |
Population per square mile, 2020 | 12,059.8 |
Population per square mile, 2010 | 11,841.8 |
Land area in square miles, 2020 | 227.73 |
Land area in square miles, 2010 | 227.63 |
Value Notes
Estimates are not comparable to other geographic levels due to methodology differences that may exist between different data sources.
Some estimates presented here come from sample data, and thus have sampling errors that may render some apparent differences between geographies statistically indistinguishable. Click the Quick Info icon to the left of each row in TABLE view to learn about sampling error.
The vintage year refers to the final year of the series . Different vintage years of estimates are not comparable.
Users should exercise caution when comparing 2016-2020 ACS 5-year estimates to other ACS estimates. For more information, please visit the 2020 5-year ACS Comparison Guidance page.
Fact NotesValue Flags
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Immigration And Migration In The 20th Century
From 1890 to 1914, migrations swelled, attracting to the city of mostly unskilled Catholic and Jewish immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, including Italians, Greeks, Czechs, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Hungarians, and Slovaks. World War I cut off immigration from Europe, which brought hundreds of thousands of southern blacks and whites into Northern cities to fill in the labor shortages. The Immigration Act of 1924 restricted populations from southern and eastern Europe, apart from refugees after World War II. The heavy annual turnover of ethnic populations ended, and the groups stabilized, each favoring specific neighborhoods.
“Old stock” Americans who relocated to Chicago after 1900 preferred the outlying areas and suburbs, with their commutes eased by train lines, making Oak Park and Evanston enclaves of the upper middle class. In the 1910s, high-rise luxury apartments were constructed along the lakefront north of the Loop, continuing into the 21st century. They attracted wealthy residents but few families with children, as wealthier families moved to suburbs for the schools. There were problems in the public school system mostly Catholic students attended schools in the large parochial system, which was of middling quality. There were a few private schools. The Latin School, Francis Parker and later The Bateman School, all centrally located served those who could afford to pay.
Demographics In The City
Chicago has a checkered past when it comes to racial diversity. Most of the citys white population lives in the Northern part of the city, while its black population lives in the South. This distribution has much to do with Chicagos previously racist housing allocation policy that forced the citys black population to reside in the cheaper, less sought-after section of the city: Chicagos South Side. Historical data has also shown that many of the people leaving the citys core for the suburban neighborhoods are from Chicagos affluent white population. The population of non-Hispanic whites within the city has fallen from 59% in 1970, to 31% in 2010, and continuing to fall.
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Nycha Resident Data Book Summary
Contains resident demographic data at a summary level as of January 1, 2019. The Resident Data Book is compiled to serve as an information source for queries involving resident demographic as well as a source of data for internal analysis. Statistics are compiled via HUD mandated annual income reviews involving NYCHA Staff and residents. Data is then aggregated and compiled by development. Each record pertains to a single public housing development.
Chicago Metro Area Population 1950

- The current metro area population of Chicago in 2022 is 8,901,000, a 0.27% increase from 2021.
- The metro area population of Chicago in 2021 was 8,877,000, a 0.14% increase from 2020.
- The metro area population of Chicago in 2020 was 8,865,000, a 0.03% increase from 2019.
- The metro area population of Chicago in 2019 was 8,862,000, a 0.02% decline from 2018.
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Immigration And Population In 19th Century
Although originally settled by Yankees in the 1830s, the city in the 1840s had many Irish Catholics come as a result of the Great Famine. Later in the century, the railroads, stockyards, and other heavy industry of the late 19th century attracted a variety of skilled workers from Europe, especially Germans, English, Swedes, Norwegians, and Dutch. A small African-American community formed, led by activist leaders like John Jones and , who established Chicago as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
In 1840, Chicago was the 92nd city in the United States by population. Its population grew so rapidly that 20 years later, it was the ninth city. In the pivotal year of 1848, Chicago saw the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, its first steam locomotives, the introduction of steam-powered grain elevators, the arrival of the telegraph, and the founding of the Chicago Board of Trade. By 1857, Chicago was the largest city in what was then called the Northwest. In 20 years, Chicago grew from 4,000 people to over 90,000. Chicago surpassed St. Louis and Cincinnati as the major city in the West and gained political notice as the home of Stephen Douglas, the 1860 presidential nominee of the Northern Democrats. The 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago nominated the home-state candidate Abraham Lincoln. The city’s government and voluntary societies gave generous support to soldiers during the American Civil War.
Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area
The Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area was originally designated by the United States Census Bureau in 1950. It comprised the Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will, along with Lake County in Indiana. As surrounding counties saw an increase in their population densities and the number of their residents employed within Cook County, they met Census criteria to be added to the MSA. The Chicago MSA, now defined as the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the third largest MSA by population in the United States. The 2015 census estimate for the MSA was 9,532,569, a decline from 9,543,893 in the 2014 census estimate. This loss of population has been attributed to taxes, crime, political issues, weather, and other factors however, a negative net migration rate statewide has been shown to be a result of poor gross in-migration, rather than an unusually high rate of gross out-migration.
The Chicago MSA is further subdivided by state boundaries into the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL Metropolitan Division, corresponding roughly to the CMAP region the Gary, IN Metropolitan Division consisting of the Indiana counties of Lake and Porter, as well as two surrounding counties and the Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division.
A breakdown of the 2009 estimated populations of the three Metropolitan Divisions of the MSA are as follows:
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Metropolitan Division
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Emergence As Transportation Hub
In 1848, the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal allowed shipping from the Great Lakes through Chicago to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The first rail line to Chicago, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, was completed the same year. Chicago would go on to become the transportation hub of the United States, with its road, rail, water, and later air connections. Chicago also became home to national retailers offering catalog shopping such as Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company, which used the transportation lines to ship all over the nation.
By the 1850s, the construction of railroads made Chicago a major hub and over 30 lines entered the city. The main lines from the East ended in Chicago, and those oriented to the West began in Chicago and so by 1860, the city had become the nation’s trans-shipment and warehousing center. Factories were created, most famously the harvester factory that was opened in 1847 by Cyrus Hall McCormick. It was a processing center for natural resource commodities extracted in the West. The Wisconsin forests supported the millwork and lumber business the Illinois hinterland provided the wheat. Hundreds of thousands of hogs and cattle were shipped to Chicago for slaughter, preserved in salt, and transported to eastern markets. By 1870, refrigerated cars allowed the shipping of fresh meat to cities in the East.
American Community Survey 5
The American Community Survey is an ongoing survey that provides data every year — giving communities the current information they need to plan investments and services. The ACS covers a broad range of topics about social, economic, demographic, and housing characteristics of the U.S. population.
The 5-year estimates from the ACS are “period” estimates that represent data collected over a period of time. The primary advantage of using multiyear estimates is the increased statistical reliability of the data for less populated areas and small population subgroups.
The 5-year estimates are available for all geographies down to the block group level. See Supported Geography for details on each products published summary levels. In total, there are 87 different summary levels available with over 578,000 geographic areas. Unlike the 1-year estimates, geographies do not have to meet a particular population threshold in order to be published. Detail Tables, Subject Tables, Data Profiles, and Comparison Profiles include the following geographies: nation, all states , all metropolitan areas, all congressional districts , all counties, all places, all tracts and block groups.
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Chicago Housing & Rent Statistics
What percentage of housing units are owner-occupied in Chicago, Illinois?
In Chicago, 45.0% of housing units are occupied by their owners.
What percentage of housing units are rented in Chicago, Illinois?
Renters occupy 55.0% of housing units in Chicago.
What percentage of Chicago, Illinois housing units were built before 1940?
Of all the housing units in Chicago, 41.8% of them were build before 1940.
What percentage of Chicago, Illinois housing units were built after 2000?
In Chicago, 10.6% of the total housing units were built after the year 2000, which is approximately 129,000 units.
What is the median monthly rent in Chicago, Illinois?
The median gross monthly rent payment for renters in Chicago is $1,112.
What percentage of households in Chicago, Illinois have broadband internet?
In Chicago, 78.8% of households have an active broadband internet connection.
S: More Changes And Stone Of Sisyphus
The beginning of the 1990s brought yet another departure. Original drummer Danny Seraphine was dismissed from the band in May 1990. Seraphine was succeeded by Tris Imboden, a longtime drummer with Kenny Loggins and former session drummer with Peter Cetera. Imboden made his first appearance on the 1991 album Twenty 1 with a fragment of band’s logo, which yielded an eleven-week stretch on the Billboard 200, a peak at No. 66, and the song “Chasin’ the Wind” which peaked at No. 39. Twenty 1 would be their last released album of original music for fifteen years.
The band was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 23, 1992.
In 1998, Chicago released Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album and a live album in 1999, Chicago XXVI.
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