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Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents in 2020.
Champaign shares the main campus of the University of Illinois with its twin city of Urbana, and is also home to Parkland College, which gives the city a large student population during the academic year. Parkland College – About Us – Quick Facts . Parkland.edu. Retrieved on August 17, 2013. Due to the university and a number of technology startup company, it is often referred to as a hub of the Illinois Silicon Prairie. Champaign houses offices for the Fortune 500 companies Abbott, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Caterpillar, John Deere, Dow Chemical Company, IBM, and State Farm. Champaign also serves as the headquarters for several companies, including Jimmy John's.
During February 1969, Carl Perkins joined with Bob Dylan to write the song "Champaign, Illinois", which Perkins released on his album On Top. The band Old 97's took another Bob Dylan song, "Desolation Row", and combined its melody with new lyrics to make a new song "Champaign, Illinois", which they released with Dylan's blessing on their 2010 album The Grand Theatre Volume One. It achieved considerable popularity. The two "Champaign, Illinois" songs are not similar to each other, except that Bob Dylan was involved in both of them.
On September 22, 1985, Champaign hosted the first Farm Aid concert at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. The concert drew a crowd of 80,000 people and raised over $7 million for American family farmers.
In 2005, Champaign–Urbana (specifically the University of Illinois) was the location of the National Science Olympiad Tournament, attracting young scientists from all 50 states. The city also hosts the state Science Olympiad competition every year. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign once again hosted the National competition on May 20–22, 2010.
Joan Severns was the city's first female mayor, serving between 1979 and 1983. Deborah Frank Feinen, who has served as mayor since 2015, is the city's second female mayor. In May 2017, the city's first female-majority city council was sworn in.
Champaign is a city in central Illinois and is located on relatively high ground, providing sources to the Kaskaskia River to the west, and the Embarras River to the south. Downtown Champaign drains into Boneyard Creek, which feeds the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork Vermilion River.
Champaign shares a border with the neighboring city of Urbana; together they are home to the University of Illinois. Champaign, Urbana, and the bordering village of Savoy form the Champaign–Urbana Metropolitan Area, also known as "Champaign–Urbana". It may also be colloquially known as the "Twin Cities", "Chambana" or "Shampoo–Banana".
There were 34,851 households, out of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.63% were married couples living together, 8.77% had a female householder with no husband present, and 55.17% were non-families. 39.97% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.01% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13 and the average family size was 2.30.
The city's age distribution consisted of 17.0% under the age of 18, 29.0% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,467, and the median income for a family was $78,118. Males had a median income of $36,680 versus $27,805 for females. The per capita income for the city was $30,245. About 10.3% of families and 23.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.
| + Champaign, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition !Race / Ethnicity ( NH = Non-Hispanic) !Pop 2000 !Pop 2010 ! !% 2000 !% 2010 ! | |||
| White alone (NH) | 48,168 | 52,533 | 51.42% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 10,471 | 12,474 | 17.96% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 132 | 143 | 0.11% |
| Asian Americans alone (NH) | 4,591 | 8,510 | 16.65% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 20 | 56 | 0.03% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 145 | 162 | 0.49% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 1,267 | 2,066 | 4.86% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2,724 | 5,111 | 8.74% |
| Total | 67,518 | 81,055 | 100.00% |
Champaign is home to nationally recognized record labels, artist management companies, booking agencies, and recording studios. Polyvinyl Records, Undertow Music, Parasol Records, Great Western Record Recorders, Pogo Studios, and Nicodemus Booking Agency are all based in Champaign.
In April 2011, The Christian Science Monitor named Champaign-Urbana one of the five cities leading the economic turnaround based on jobs; the information sector added over 300 jobs within a year and unemployment dropped 2.1%. Local jobs: Top five cities leading the turnaround Christian Science Monitor – April 15, 2011
The technology incubator at Research Park, EnterpriseWorks, has launched 350+ startups since opening in 2014. Famous graduates of EnterpriseWorks include Agrible, which was sold to Nutrien in 2018 for $63 million. Another success story is Starfire, which graduated from EnterpriseWorks and moved into other space at the Research Park. In 2022, Starfire was growing so fast, it bought its own 190,000 SF building in the northwest side of Champaign.
| 1 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 13,934 |
| 2 | Carle Foundation Hospital | 6,921 |
| 3 | Champaign Unit 4 School District | 1,664 |
| 4 | Kraft Heinz | 925 |
| 5 | Christie Clinic | 916 |
| 6 | Champaign County | 893 |
| 7 | Urbana School District#116 | 828 |
| 8 | FedEx | 815 |
| 9 | OSF HealthCare | 774 |
| 10 | Parkland College | 741 |
Other major employers include Horizon Hobby, Jimmy John's, Plastipak, SuperValu, and Wolfram Research. Numerous other software and technology companies also have offices in Champaign including Ansys, Amdocs, Cloudflare, Instarecon, Phonak, Power World, and Caterpillar Simulation Center. The largest high technology employer is Wolfram Research, with more than 400 employees in Champaign. The United States Army Corps of Engineers maintains the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign.
This growth in downtown Champaign coincided with the larger growth of the "north Prospect" shopping district on the city's northern boundary. The growth in the north Prospect area relied, in part, on leapfrogging, moving out to the countryside and developing more remote farmland that eventually connects to the main development. Given the overwhelming success of such suburban shopping areas nationally, new development within any city center represented an alternative to the dominant movement out and away from the cities.
The Champaign City Building serves as the City Hall and is a recognizable landmark. The building replaces the original city building, which sat on the same site until 1937.
The historic Virginia Theatre is a restored 1463-seat movie theater which opened on December 28, 1921. It has an ornate, Spanish Renaissance-influenced interior, full stage and dressing rooms, and its original Wurlitzer pipe organ. It hosts Ebertfest and has a single 56' x 23' screen. The theater does not have a daily show schedule, but schedules special screenings and live performances several times each month.
The Art Theater Co-op, which showed independent and foreign films, was built in 1913 as the Park Theatre. From 1969 to 1986, it showed adult films. Cinema Treasures: Boardman's Art Theatre Cinematreasures.org, Accessed October 18, 2007 Until October 2019, it was the only single-screen movie theater operating daily in Champaign-Urbana, and was the United States's first co-operatively owned art movie theater. It closed in October 2019. Art Theater Cooperative takes over , News-gazette.com, Accessed May 14, 2013
The newly renamed Tower at 3rd (formerly Champaign Hilton, Century 21, Quality Inn, University Inn, Presidential Tower) is located in the University District and is over twenty stories high. A hotel until 2001, it currently houses student apartments. Tower turning 35, but controversy over its construction lingers . News-Gazette.com. Retrieved on August 17, 2013.
A new 14-story apartment complex was completed in 2014 at the intersection of 6th and Green streets (site of the former Gameday Spirit).O'Dea, Janelle. (June 10, 2013) Construction of high-rise Bankier Apartments begins on Green Street The Daily Illini. Retrieved on August 17, 2013. A 12-story, mixed-use complex consisting of a hotel, apartments and parking was scheduled to be completed by August 2015. The mixed-use complex is reported to consist of two towers which will be connected by a skywalk. A 27-story apartment building is planned at 308 East Green Street. This high-rise is reported to have an automated parking vault which will be operated by an elevator. Green Street landscape to change with addition of high rises . The Daily Illini (April 19, 2013). Retrieved on August 17, 2013.
| + Illinois Fighting Illini ! Team ! Established ! Big Ten Conference Titles ! NCAA Postseason Appearances ! National Titles ! Venue ! Opened ! Capacity |
Originally known as the Assembly Hall, the State Farm Center is home to the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball and Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball teams. It holds the annual Broadway Series, which features popular musicals.
Twice Champaign was also home to a Collegiate Summer Baseball League team. The city's Champaign County Colts were a founding member of the Central Illinois Collegiate League from 1963 to 1964. In 1990 the Colts were revived as the Champaign-Urbana Colts until the team folded in 1996. The more recent club played its home games at Illinois Field. Mayor wants to explore options for minor league baseball in Champaign . News-Gazette.com (June 26, 2011). Retrieved on August 17, 2013.
In October 2014, the Midwest Professional Basketball Association announced the creation of the Champaign Swarm as one of its founding members, that began play at the Dodds Athletic Center in January 2015.
Champaign is also served by three Private school high schools. The largest of the three is St. Thomas More High School which is located on the city's far northwest side. The school opened in 2000 and is the newest charter of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria. Judah Christian School, which is located just south of I-74 on Prospect Avenue, opened in 1983 and serves grades pre-kindergarten through 12. Academy High is a private, independent high school located in South Champaign which opened in 2017. The school is designed to be student-centered, highly collaborative, and project-based.
Interstate 57 enters in Champaign County after a diamond interchange with Curtis Road. It makes two Cloverleaf interchanges with Interstate 72 towards Decatur, Illinois, and the second (soon to be changed) Cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 74 in Illinois to Indianapolis. After making the two major interchanges, it runs out of Champaign County with a Partial cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 45 to Rantoul, Illinois. Interstate 74 starts with U.S. Route 150 in Illinois with Mahomet, Illinois, it makes two total interchanges within the city's limits. After making those interchanges, it makes one interchange with Interstate 57. After making the main interchange it starts to make interchanges with the city's streets. Interstate 74 goes out of Champaign County with St. Joseph, Illinois. Interstate 72 enters Champaign County with an interchange towards Monticello and north towards Mahomet after the main route that heads north crosses Interstate 74. Interstate 72 then heads into the cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 57 and then continues east for 1 1/2 to 2 miles eventually terminating itself at University Avenue on the southeast side of Champaign.
Interstate Highways
Interstate 57
Interstate 72
Interstate 74
US Highways
US 45
US 150
Illinois Highways
Route 10
The local bus system, which is supported by the taxpayers of the Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) and the University of Illinois, serves Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, and surrounding areas. The C-U MTD has twice been named as the best local transit system in the United States.
C-CARTS provides bus service connecting Champaign, Urbana and Rantoul.
The former Illinois Central Railroad line—now part of the Canadian National Railway system—runs north to south through the city. A spur line from the Canadian National line provides service to several large industries, including two large food processing plants, on the west edge of Champaign and two grain elevators in outlying communities to the west. Norfolk Southern Railway operates an east-to-west line through Champaign, connecting eastern Urbana to the Norfolk Southern main line at Mansfield, Illinois, along the former Peoria & Eastern Railway.
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