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Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River and Ohio River to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth-largest population, and the 25th-most land area. Its capital city is Springfield in the center of the state, and the state's largest city is Chicago in the northeast.
Present-day Illinois was inhabited by Indigenous cultures for thousands of years. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and Illinois River rivers in the 17th century Illinois Country, as part of their sprawling colony of New France. A century later, the revolutionary war Illinois campaign prefigured American involvement in the region. Following U.S. independence in 1783, which made the Mississippi River the national boundary, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky via the Ohio River. Illinois was soon part of the United States' oldest territory, the Northwest Territory, and in 1818 it achieved statehood. The Erie Canal brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the invention of the self-scouring plough by Illinoisan John Deere turned the state's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from German American, Swedish American and elsewhere. In the mid-19th century, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe. Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. The Great Migration from the South established a large Black community, particularly in Chicago, which became a leading cultural, economic, and population center; its metropolitan area, informally referred to as Chicagoland, holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents.
Two World Heritage Sites are in Illinois, the ancient Cahokia Mounds, and part of the Wright architecture site. A wide variety of protected areas seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Major centers of learning include the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, and Northwestern University. Three U.S. presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama; additionally, Ronald Reagan was born and raised in the state. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan Land of Lincoln. The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield and the future home of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Illinois has a highly diverse economy, with the global city of Chicago in the northeast, major industrial and agricultural hubs in the north and center, and such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major transportation hub: the Port of Chicago has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway and to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River via the Illinois Waterway. Chicago has been the nation's railroad hub since the 1860s, and its O'Hare International Airport has been among the world's busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a microcosm of the United States and a bellwether in American culture, exemplified by the phrase Will it play in Peoria?.
American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant 'man' or 'men' in the Miami-Illinois language, with the original iliniwek transformed via French into Illinois.Frederick Webb Hodge (2025). 9781404740303, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. . ISBN 9781404740303 This etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for "man" is ireniwa, and plural of "man" is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also been said to mean 'tribe of superior men', which is a false etymology. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa 'he speaks the regular way'. This was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe· (pluralized as ilinwe·k). The French borrowed these forms, spelling the ending as -ois, a transliteration of that sound in the French of that time. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, when French colonists had settled in the western area. The Illinois's name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms.
The civilization vanished in the 15th century for unknown reasons, but historians and archeologists have speculated that the people depleted the area of resources. Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to Suzanne Austin Alchon, "At one site in the central Illinois River valley, one third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries." The next major power in the region was the Illinois Confederation or Illini, a political alliance. Around the time of European contact in 1673, the Illinois confederation had an estimated population of over 10,000 people. As the Illini declined during the Beaver Wars era, members of the Algonquian-speaking Potawatomi, Miami people, Sauk people, and other tribes including the Fox (Meskwaki), Iowa people, Kickapoo people, Mascouten, Piankeshaw, Shawnee, Wea, and Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) came into the area from the east and north around the Great Lakes.
A few British soldiers were posted in Illinois, but few British or American settlers moved there, as the Crown made it part of the territory reserved for Indians west of the Appalachians, and then part of the British Province of Quebec. In 1778, George Rogers Clark claimed Illinois County for Virginia. In a compromise, Virginia (and other states that made various claims) ceded the area to the new United States in the 1780s and it became part of the Northwest Territory, administered by the federal government and later organized as states.
During the discussions leading up to Illinois's admission to the Union, the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice. The original provisions of the Northwest Ordinance had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have left Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's, which is defined as 10 miles north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. However, the Illinois delegate, Nathaniel Pope, wanted more, and lobbied to have the boundary moved further north. The final bill passed by Congress included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added to the state, including the lead mining region near Galena. More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers and thus connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.
Though it was ostensibly a "free state", there was nonetheless slavery in Illinois. The ethnic French had owned black slaves since the 1720s, and American settlers had already brought slaves into the area from Kentucky. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordinance, but that was not enforced for those already holding slaves. When Illinois became a state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state. As the southern part of the state, later known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt", was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks. Edward Coles, the second Governor of Illinois who was born in Virginia, participated in a campaign to block extending existing slavery in Illinois after winning the 1822 Illinois gubernatorial election. In 1824, state residents voted against making slavery legal by a vote of 6640 against to 4972 for.
Still, most residents opposed allowing free blacks as permanent residents. Some settlers brought in slaves seasonally or as house servants. The Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, John A. Logan helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including Freedman, from settling in the state.
The winter of 1830–1831 is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow"; a sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the state, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter, and many travelers perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes and killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in the northern part of the state. The southern part of the state shipped food north, and this may have contributed to its name, "Little Egypt", after the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers.
In 1832, the Black Hawk War was fought in Illinois and present-day Wisconsin between the United States and a coalition of the Sauk people, Meskwaki, and Kickapoo people Indian tribes, who had been forced to leave their homes and relocate to Iowa in 1831. The tribes had lost their territory east of the Mississippi river in Illinois under a disputed treaty in 1804. The Indians, under Sauk Chief Black Hawk, attempted to return to Illinois in April 1832 to reclaim this land. They were attacked and defeated by the U.S. Militia and rival tribes allied with the US forces, including the Potawatomi, Lakota people, Menominee, and Ho-Chunk. The survivors of Black Hawk's band were forced back to Iowa. This represented the end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago and Northern Illinois regions. By 1832, when the last Indian lands in Illinois were ceded to the United States, the indigenous population of the state had been reduced by infectious diseases, warfare, and Indian removal to only one village with fewer than 300 inhabitants.
By 1839, the Latter Day Saints had founded a utopian city called Nauvoo, formerly called Commerce. Located in Hancock County along the Mississippi River, Nauvoo flourished and, by 1844, briefly surpassed Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in that same year, the Latter Day Saint movement founder, Joseph Smith, was killed in the Carthage Jail, about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following a succession crisis, Brigham Young led most Latter Day Saints out of Illinois in a Mormon pioneers to present-day Utah; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo quickly declined afterward.
After it was established in 1833, Chicago gained prominence as a Great Lakes port, and then as an Illinois and Michigan Canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois's largest city. With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois was the ground for the formation of labor unions in the United States.
In 1847, after lobbying by Dorothea Dix, Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local . Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King, a Jacksonville, Illinois businessman, who invited her to Illinois, where he had been working to build an asylum for the insane. With the lobbying expertise of Dix, plans for the Jacksonville State Hospital (now known as the Jacksonville Developmental Center) were signed into law on March 1, 1847.
During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The Pullman Strike and Haymarket affair, in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American labour movement. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire burned in downtown Chicago, destroying .
The Century of Progress World's fair was held at Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in Marion County and Crawford County led to a boom in 1937, and by 1939, Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Illinois manufactured 6.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking seventh among the 48 states. Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The seaway and the Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1960, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, which was demolished in 1984. In 1985 a replica was built on the same site to recreate how the original one looked. Though this replica was demolished in 2017, due to repeated flooding of the building.
Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the nuclear age. In 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project, the University of Chicago conducted the first sustained nuclear chain reaction. In 1957, Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago, activated the first experimental nuclear power generating system in the United States. By 1960, the first privately financed nuclear plant in the United States, Dresden 1, was dedicated near Morris. In 1967, Fermilab, a national nuclear research facility near Batavia, opened a particle accelerator, which was the world's largest for over 40 years. With eleven plants currently operating, Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power.
In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the American Law Institute and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against sodomy. The code also abrogated common law crimes and established an age of consent of 18. The state's fourth constitution was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document.
The first Farm Aid concert was held in Champaign to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst upper Mississippi River flood of the century, the Great Flood of 1993, inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland.
The 2002 election brought Democrat Rod Blagojevich to the governor's mansion. It also brought future president Barack Obama into a committee leadership position in the Illinois Senate, where he drafted the Health Care Justice Act, a forerunner of the Affordable Care Act. Obama's election to the presidency in Blagojevich's second term set off a chain of events culminating in Blagojevich's impeachment, trial, and subsequent criminal conviction and imprisonment, making Blagojevich the second consecutive Illinois governor to be convicted on federal corruption charges.
Blagojevich's replacement Pat Quinn was defeated by Republican Bruce Rauner in the 2014 election. Disagreements between the governor and legislature over budgetary policy led to the Illinois Budget Impasse, a 793-day period stretching from 2015 to 2018 in which the state had no budget and struggled to pay its bills.
On August 28, 2017, Rauner signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local police from arresting anyone solely due to their immigration status or due to federal detainers. Some fellow Republicans criticized Rauner for his action, claiming the bill made Illinois a Sanctuary city.
In the 2018 election, Rauner was replaced by J. B. Pritzker, returning the state government to a Democratic trifecta. In January 2020 the state legalized marijuana. On March 9, 2020, Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He ended the state of emergency in May 2023.
Charles Mound, located in the Driftless region, has the state's highest natural elevation above sea level at . Other highlands include the Shawnee Hills in the south, and there is varying topography along its rivers; the Illinois River bisects the state northeast to southwest. The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River is known as the American Bottom.
Illinois was above sea level for at least part of the Mesozoic, but by its end was again submerged by the Western Interior Seaway. This receded by the Eocene.
During the Pleistocene Epoch, vast ice sheets covered much of Illinois, with only the Driftless Area remaining exposed. These carved the basin of Lake Michigan and left behind traces of ancient glacial lakes and .
The midsection of Illinois is the second major division, called Central Illinois. Historically prairie, it is now mainly agricultural and known as the Heart of Illinois. It is characterized by small towns and medium–small cities. The western section (west of the Illinois River) was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly maize and , as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include Peoria; Springfield, the state capital; Quincy; Decatur; Bloomington-Normal; and Champaign-Urbana.
The third division is Southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50, including Little Egypt, near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, as well as the site of the first state capital at Kaskaskia, which today is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. This region has a somewhat warmer winter climate, different variety of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (due to the area remaining unglaciated during the Illinoian Stage, unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois suburbs of St. Louis, such as East St. Louis, are located in this region, and collectively, they are known as the Metro-East. The other somewhat significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on Carbondale and Marion, a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents. A portion of southeastern Illinois is part of the extended Evansville, Indiana, Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois counties are in the area.
In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside the Chicago metropolitan area is often called "downstate" Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the influence of the Chicago area. Thus, some cities in Northern Illinois, such as DeKalb, which is west of Chicago, and Rockford—which is actually north of Chicago—are sometimes incorrectly considered to be 'downstate'.
Illinois averages approximately 51 days of thunderstorm activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes, with an average of 54 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per annually." Annual average number of tornadoes, 1953–2004 ", NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved October 24, 2006. Some of Tornado Alley's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in the state. The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois.
| Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Illinois Cities (°F) |
The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville, with 42,000 residents. It is located in the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis, the second-most populous urban area in Illinois with over 700,000 residents. Other major urban areas include the Peoria metropolitan area, Rockford metropolitan area, Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area (home to the University of Illinois), Springfield metropolitan area, the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities area, and the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area.
Illinois is the most racially and ethnically diverse state in the Midwest. By several metrics, including racial and ethnic background, religious affiliation, and percentage of rural and urban divide, Illinois is the most representative of the larger demography of the United States.
| + Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition !Race / Ethnicity ( NH = Non-Hispanic) !Pop 2000 !Pop 2010 ! !% 2000 !% 2010 ! | |||
| White alone (NH) | 8,424,140 | 8,167,753 | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 1,856,152 | 1,832,924 | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 18,232 | 18,849 | |
| Asian Americans alone (NH) | 419,916 | 580,586 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 3,116 | 2,977 | |
| Other race alone (NH) | 13,479 | 16,008 | |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 153,996 | 183,957 | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1,530,262 | 2,027,578 | |
| Total | 12,419,293 | 12,830,632 | 100.00% |
| Ethnic composition as of the 2020 census | ||
| White (non-Hispanic) | ||
| Hispanic or Latino | ||
| African American (non-Hispanic) | ||
| Asian Americans | ||
| Native American | ||
| Pacific Islander | ||
| Other |
| + Illinois Racial Breakdown of Population | |||||||||
| White American | 95.0% | 92.4% | 89.4% | 86.4% | 71.5% | 61.4% | |||
| African American | 4.9% | 7.4% | 10.3% | 12.8% | 14.5% | 14.1% | |||
| Asian American | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 4.6% | 5.9% | |||
| Native American | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.8% | |||
| Pacific Islander | — | — | — | — | 0.0% | 0.0% | |||
| 'Some Other race' | — | — | — | 0.2% | 6.7% | 8.9% | |||
| Two or more races | — | — | — | — | 2.3% | 8.9% | |||
| Hispanic or Latino (Any race) | 0.3% | — | — | 3.3% | 5.6% | 7.9% | 12.3% | 15.8% | 18.2% |
| Non-Hispanic white | 94.7% | — | — | 83.5% | 78% | 74.8% | 67.8% | 63.7% | 58.3% |
| Non-Hispanic black | — | — | — | 12.6% | 14.6% | 14.7% | 15.0% | 14.3% | 13.9% |
| Non-Hispanic Asian | — | — | — | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2.4% | 3.4% | 4.5% | 5.8% |
| Non-Hispanic Native American | — | — | — | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Non-Hispanic 'Some other race' | — | — | — | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| Non-Hispanic two or more races | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.2% | 1.4% | 3.2% |
| valign="top" | | valign="top" |
According to 2023 U.S. Census Bureau estimates (with Hispanics allocated amongst the various racial groups), Illinois' population was 60.7% White American, 13.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American or Alaskan Native, 6.0% Asian American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.1% Some Other Race, and 11.8% from two or more races. The white population continues to remain the largest racial category in Illinois. Under this methodology, Hispanics are allocated amongst the various racial groups and primarily identify as Some Other Race (40.9%) or Multiracial (39.2%) with the remainder identifying as White (15.0%), Black (1.2%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (3.2%), Asian (0.5%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%). By ethnicity, 19.0% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 81.0% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). Illinois has the largest share of Hispanic residents in the Midwest, with over 37% of Hispanics in the region living in Illinois.
The vast majority of Hispanics in Illinois live in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, with 786,464 Hispanics living in the city of Chicago itself, making up nearly a third of the city's population. Many large suburbs of Chicago, including Aurora, Berwyn, Cicero, and Elgin, have either a majority or plurality Hispanic population. The county with the highest share of Hispanic residents in the state, at 33.5% of the population, is Kane County, located on the western edge of the Chicago suburbs and including the cities of Elgin and Aurora. Hispanics have the lowest per-capita income of any major ethnic or racial group in Illinois, at $28,541. However, the Hispanic poverty rate, at 14.1%, is lower than that of Black residents, who have a poverty rate of 23%. Hispanic residents are the youngest demographic group in Illinois, with a median age of 30.7.
While those of Hispanic ethnicity are not distinguished between total and partial Hispanic origin, 2021 estimates show that almost 10% of the state's Hispanic population also reported a non-Spanish European ancestry, with this group making up 1.7% of the state's total population.
According to a study from the Brookings Institute, the Chicago area has the third highest level of black-white residential segregation in the United States. While some areas, including many neighborhoods on the city's west side and south side, as well as many suburbs in the Chicago Southland, are majority Black, most neighborhoods on the north and northwest sides of Chicago, as well as most of the northern and southwestern suburbs of the city, have very small Black populations.
Outside of Chicagoland, urban areas in Southern and Central Illinois, including the Metro East, Peoria, Springfield, and Decatur also have significant Black populations. The counties with the highest share of Black residents in Illinois are Pulaski and Alexander County, located at the southern tip of the state along the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the region known as "Little Egypt", with Black residents making up 32% of the population in both counties.
The per-capita income of Black residents, at $30,295, is the second lowest of all major ethnic or racial groups in the state, after Hispanics of any race. However, Black Illinoisans have the highest overall poverty rate of all groups in the state, at 23%. The median age of Black residents in Illinois is 36.8 years.
Illinois has a long history of milestones regarding African American involvement in politics. It was the first state to elect a Black person to the U.S. House of Representatives in the post-reconstruction era, with the election of Oscar De Priest in 1928. It was also the first state to elect a Black woman to the US Senate, with the election of Carol Mosley Brown in 1992. Illinois senator Barack Obama would become the first Black president of the United States following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.
Around 37% of the state's Asian population is of origin, 31% are , 29% are (Mostly Filipino), 1% are , and 2% are of 'unspecified' Asian origins. The largest specific Asian groups in the state are Indian (277,961), Filipino (184,508), Chinese (160,880), Korean (67,452), and Pakistani (50,508). Around 85% of the state's Asian-American population identifies as Asian alone, while 15% identify as multiracial. Illinoisans of South Asian ancestry are significantly less likely than other Asian-Americans in the state to report multiracial ancestry, with 94% of Indian-Americans and 90% of Pakistani-Americans in the state identifying as Asian alone, compared to 82% of Chinese-American residents, 73% of Filipino-American residents, and only 44% of the state's 33,000 Japanese-American residents.
The overwhelming majority of the state's Asian population resides in the Chicago metropolitan area, mostly in suburban areas. Suburban DuPage County has the highest share of Asian residents in the state, at 14.7%. While Asians aren't the majority in any municipality within Illinois, they make up a significant share of the population (between 20 and 40%) in multiple western and northern suburbs of Chicago, including Naperville, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Skokie, Niles, and Morton Grove. Additionally, the Chicago community area of Armour Square, which includes the city's Chinatown neighborhood, is majority Asian at 63.7% of the population. Asian residents have the highest per-capita income of any major ethnic or racial group in the state, at $54,122, and the second lowest poverty rate, after non-Hispanic whites, at 10.4%. The median age of single-race Asian residents in Illinois is 38.9 years. Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth, of Thai Americans descent, is one of only three Asian Americans currently serving in the US Senate.
In the Chicago metro area, the white population is located mostly in suburban areas, with non-Hispanic white residents making up a majority of the population (between 53% and 75%) in every metropolitan county other than Cook County, while making up only 31.7% of the population in the city of Chicago itself. Within Chicago, there is significant racial segregation, with the white population concentrated primarily on the North Side of the city, while many predominantly African-American or Hispanic neighborhoods on the West Side and South Side of the city have almost no non-Hispanic white residents.
The largest European ancestry reported in Illinois is German Americans. 1,983,050 Illinoisans, or 15.8% of the total population, identify with German ancestry, making it the single largest ancestry group in the state. German ancestry predominates among the white population in every county in northern Illinois, as well as most counties in the southwestern part of the state, while English-Americans, making up 6.8% of Illinois' population, predominate in most of the southeastern counties. The state's white population also includes a large number of Irish people (10.5%), Polish Americans (6.1%), and Italian-Americans (5.5%), with these groups concentrated mainly in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Illinois' Polish-American population of 761,948 is the highest out of any state. The state is also home to a significant population of other ethnicities, also largely concentrated around the Chicago area, including 86,814 Russians, 83,679 Czech Americans, 71,279 Ukrainians, and 35,407 Croatians.
Most Illinoisans who report any European ancestry identify with multiple ancestries. Those of partial descent make up the majority of most European ancestry groups in Illinois, including 58% of Polish-Americans, 68% of English-Americans, 69% of German-Americans, and 75% of Irish-Americans in the state. Of all European ancestries numbering over 50,000 in Illinois, those identifying solely with that ancestry are only a majority among the state's 71,279 Ukrainian-Americans, with two thirds of this group identifying as Ukrainian alone.
Along with white residents reporting multiple European ancestries, around 3% of the state's population identifies as non-Hispanic white in combination with another racial group. Additionally, while those of Hispanic ethnicity are not distinguished between total and partial Hispanic origin, an estimated 1.7% of Illinois' population are Hispanics who report a non-Spanish European ancestry.
Non-Hispanic whites have the second highest per-capita income of any racial group in the state, at $53,591, just slightly below that of Asians. The white poverty rate, at only 8.3%, is the lowest of all major racial or ethnic groups in the state, including Asians. The median age of non-Hispanic white residents is the oldest of all racial or ethnic groups in the state, at 44.2 years.
Illinois has the largest Palestinian population in the United States. According to census estimates, 19,255 Illinoisans have Palestinian ancestry, while other estimates place the population of Palestinian descent in the Chicago area as high as 85,000.
The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 83.5% in 1970 to 58.5% in 2022. Almost 60% of Illinois' minority population, including over 67% of the black population, lives in Cook County, while the county includes around 40% of the state's total population. Cook County, which is home to Chicago, is the only majority-minority county within Illinois, with non-Hispanic whites making up a plurality of 40.4% of the population. Despite being the most ethnically diverse state in the Midwest, urban areas in Illinois have had a persistently high level of racial segregation, with a study from the Brookings Institute finding that the Chicago area has the third highest level of black-white residential segregation out of all major metropolitan areas in the United States.
| German Americans | 649,997 | 2,014,297 | 16.0% |
| Black or African American (Including Afro-Caribbean & Sub-Saharan African) | 1,689,724 | 1,931,027 | 15.3% |
| Mexican | — | 1,759,842 | 14.0% |
| Irish Americans | 338,198 | 1,312,888 | 10.4% |
| English | 278,564 | 891,189 | 7.1% |
| Polish Americans | 336,810 | 780,152 | 6.2% |
| Italian | 205,189 | 657,830 | 5.2% |
| American (Mostly old-stock white Americans of British descent) | 345,772 | 428,431 | 3.4% |
| Indian Americans | 270,311 | 287,101 | 2.3% |
| Puerto Ricans | — | 214,835 | 1.7% |
| Swedish | 48,814 | 210,128 | 1.7% |
| Filipino | 131,433 | 175,619 | 1.4% |
| French Americans | 27,025 | 174,964 | 1.4% |
| Chinese | 130,864 | 153,277 | 1.2% |
| Broadly "European" (No country specified) | 114,209 | 146,671 | 1.2% |
| Scottish | 33,638 | 136,636 | 1.1% |
| Norwegian | 33,099 | 133,538 | 1.1% |
| Dutch Americans | 32,184 | 122,139 | 1.0% |
| Arab Americans | 74,779 | 106,612 | 0.8% |
| Czech Americans | 21,168 | 83,090 | 0.7% |
| Greek Americans | 39,290 | 82,360 | 0.7% |
| Russian | 27,532 | 79,623 | 0.6% |
| Lithuanian | 27,001 | 73,207 | 0.6% |
| Korean Americans | 55,515 | 71,709 | 0.6% |
| Scotch-Irish | 16,817 | 60,693 | 0.5% |
| Ukrainian | 37,306 | 60,623 | 0.5% |
| 8,379,091 | 66.6% | |
| Other States or D.C. | 2,227,917 | 17.7% |
| 50,577 | 0.4% | |
| Other US Territories | 2,633 | 0.0% |
| 621,541 | 4.9% | |
| 22,886 | 0.2% | |
| 13,811 | 0.1% | |
| 12,097 | 0.1% | |
| 7,150 | 0.1% | |
| Other countries | 6,281 | 0.0% |
| 6,955 | 0.1% | |
| 6,873 | 0.1% | |
| 5,265 | 0.0% | |
| Other Caribbean countries | 6,165 | 0.0% |
| 22,796 | 0.2% | |
| 15,387 | 0.1% | |
| 14,356 | 0.1% | |
| 9,164 | 0.1% | |
| 6,426 | 0.1% | |
| Other countries | 8,815 | 0.1% |
| 17,632 | 0.1% | |
| Other Northern American countries | 143 | 0.0% |
| 120,473 | 1.0% | |
| 33,575 | 0.3% | |
| 15,452 | 0.1% | |
| 14,930 | 0.1% | |
| 13,464 | 0.1% | |
| 11,071 | 0.1% | |
| Other countries | 62,393 | 0.5% |
| 19,611 | 0.2% | |
| Other countries | 10,465 | 0.1% |
| 18,660 | 0.1% | |
| 12,463 | 0.1% | |
| Other countries | 3,874 | 0.0% |
| (Including overseas Crown Dependencies)19,123 | 0.2% | |
| 5,465 | 0.0% | |
| Other countries | 2,985 | 0.0% |
| 77,933 | 0.7% | |
| (North or South) | 37,662 | 0.3% |
| 9,905 | 0.1% | |
| 8,995 | 0.1% | |
| Other countries | 2,603 | 0.0% |
| 173,578 | 1.4% | |
| 29,823 | 0.2% | |
| 5,858 | 0.0% | |
| Other South Asia or countries | 22,516 | 0.2% |
| 92,569 | 0.7% | |
| 18,559 | 0.1% | |
| 5,268 | 0.0% | |
| Other countries | 15,288 | 0.1% |
| 13,341 | 0.1% | |
| 8,240 | 0.1% | |
| 8,130 | 0.1% | |
| 5,271 | 0.0% | |
| Other countries | 17,370 | 0.1% |
| 22,648 | 0.2% | |
| 6,018 | 0.0% | |
| 5,069 | 0.0% | |
| Other Sub-Saharan African countries | 29,855 | 0.3% |
Females make up approximately 50.5% of the population, while males make up 49.5%. According to a 2022 study from the Williams Institute, an estimated 0.44% of adults in Illinois identify as transgender, a rate slightly lower than the national estimate of 0.52%. According to a Gallup survey from 2019, 4.3% of adults in Illinois identify as LGBTQ.
| 0–9 | 11.2% | 1,409,553 |
| 10–19 | 12.9% | 1,628,658 |
| 20–29 | 13.4% | 1,683,823 |
| 30–39 | 13.6% | 1,709,929 |
| 40–49 | 12.6% | 1,579,665 |
| 50–59 | 12.7% | 1,596,049 |
| 60–69 | 11.9% | 1,501,221 |
| 70–79 | 7.7% | 970,961 |
| 80+ | 4% | 502,173 |
| Asian | $54,122 | 10.4% |
| White (Non-Hispanic) | $53,591 | 8.3% |
| All residents | $45,043 | 11.6% |
| Black | $30,295 | 23.0% |
| Hispanic (Any Race) | $28,541 | 14.1% |
90.6% of the adult population has a high school diploma, and 38.3% of the population over 25 has a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to a national average of 36.2%.
In 2022, Illinois scored 0.932 on the UN's Human Development Index, placing it in the category of "very high" Human Development and slightly higher than the US average of 0.927.
According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 9,212 homeless people in Illinois.
According to 2022 data from the Prison Policy Initiative, an estimated 53,000 people were imprisoned in local jails, state prisons, federal prisons, or detention centers in the state, meaning that around 0.43% of the state's total population was incarcerated. Census data from 2023 reports an estimated 59,254 people (0.47%) imprisoned in adult correctional facilities in the state. However, Illinois' prison incarceration rate has declined by almost 50% since 2014, and the state has the 13th lowest total incarceration rate out of all 50 states.
| + Live Births by Single Race/Ethnicity of Mother | |||||||||||
| White | 85,866 (54.7%) | 86,227 (54.4%) | 85,424 (54.0%) | 82,318 (53.3%) | 78,925 (52.8%) | 77,244 (53.3%) | 74,434 (53.1%) | 70,550 (52.9%) | 71,482 (54.1%) | 68,107 (53.1%) | 64,698 (51.8%) |
| Black | 27,692 (17.6%) | 28,160 (17.8%) | 28,059 (17.7%) | 25,619 (16.6%) | 25,685 (17.2%) | 24,482 (16.9%) | 23,258 (16.6%) | 22,293 (16.7%) | 20,779 (15.7%) | 19,296 (15.0%) | 18,013 (14.4%) |
| Asian Americans | 9,848 (6.3%) | 10,174 (6.4%) | 10,222 (6.5%) | 10,015 (6.5%) | 9,650 (6.5%) | 9,452 (6.5%) | 9,169 (6.5%) | 8,505 (6.4%) | 8,338 (6.3%) | 8,277 (6.4%) | 8,416 (6.7%) |
| American Indian | 234 (0.1%) | 227 (0.1%) | 205 (0.1%) | 110 (0.0%) | 133 (0.1%) | 129 (0.1%) | 119 (0.1%) | 79 (>0.1%) | 86 (>0.1%) | 87 (>0.1%) | 97 (>0.1%) |
| Hispanic (any race) | 33,454 (21.3%) | 33,803 (21.3%) | 33,902 (21.4%) | 32,635 (21.1%) | 31,428 (21.0%) | 30,362 (21.0%) | 30,097 (21.5%) | 28,808 (21.6%) | 28,546 (21.6%) | 29,710 (23.1%) | 30,465 (24.4%) |
| Total | 156,931 (100%) | 158,556 (100%) | 158,116 (100%) | 154,445 (100%) | 149,390 (100%) | 144,815 (100%) | 140,128 (100%) | 133,298 (100%) | 132,189 (100%) | 128,350 (100%) | 124,820 (100%) |
Over 24% of Illinoians speak a language other than English at home, of which Spanish language is by far the most widespread, at more than 14% of the total population. A sizeable number of Polish language speakers is present in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Illinois Country French has mostly gone extinct in Illinois, although it is still celebrated in the French Colonial Historic District.
| English only | 75.7% | 9,004,820 |
| Spanish | 14.1% | 1,672,496 |
| Polish language | 1.4% | 161,590 |
| Chinese language | 0.9% | 109,270 |
| Tagalog language | 0.7% | 87,330 |
| Arabic | 0.6% | 74,919 |
| Urdu | 0.5% | 62,667 |
| Ukrainian or other Slavic languages | 0.5% | 61,713 |
| Gujarati | 0.5% | 53,564 |
| Russian language | 0.4% | 48,012 |
| Hindi | 0.4% | 45,893 |
| Korean language | 0.3% | 36,666 |
| French language | 0.3% | 34,463 |
| Languages | 0.3% | 32,917 |
| German language | 0.3% | 31,305 |
| Serbo-Croatian | 0.2% | 26,399 |
| Italian language | 0.2% | 26,018 |
| Greek language | 0.2% | 23,751 |
| Telugu language | 0.2% | 23,163 |
| Other Dravidian Languages | 0.2% | 20,193 |
| Vietnamese | 0.2% | 19,468 |
| All other languages | 2.0% | 232,046 |
However, looking at specific denominations, Illinois has a significantly larger Catholic population than most states. Roman Catholics constitute the single largest religious denomination in Illinois; they are heavily concentrated in and around Chicago, reflecting the prominent Hispanic, Polish, Irish, and Italian diasporas in the area. As of 2023, Catholics account for nearly 25% of the state's population. In 2010, Catholics in Illinois numbered 3,648,907, while by 2020, this number had declined to 3,099,544. The first and only American-born Catholic pope, Pope Leo XIV, was born in Chicago and raised in the suburb of Dolton.
When taken together as a group, the various Protestant denominations comprise a greater percentage of the state's population than do Catholics, making up 36% of the state's population. The largest Protestant denominations in 2020 were the United Methodist Church with 235,045 members and the Southern Baptist Convention with 222,589. Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of Missouri Synod Lutherans in the United States, at 182,097.
Illinois played an important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement, with Nauvoo becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s. Following the 1844 killing of Mormon leader Joseph Smith by a lynch mob in nearby Carthage, Nauvoo was the location of the succession crisis, which led to the separation of the Mormon movement into several Latter Day Saint sects. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of the sects to emerge from the Mormon schism, has more than 55,000 adherents in Illinois today.
The largest and oldest surviving Baháʼí House of Worship in the world is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wilmette, Illinois, one of eight continental Baháʼí House of Worship. It serves as a space for people of all backgrounds and religions to gather, meditate, reflect, and pray, expressing the Baháʼí principle of the oneness of religions.
The Chicago area has a very large Jewish community, particularly in the northern suburbs of Skokie, Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, and surrounding areas. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was the Windy City's first Jewish mayor. The current governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, is Jewish, being the third person of Jewish descent to hold the office after Henry Horner and Samuel H. Shapiro. Almost 4% of the Chicago area's population is Jewish, numbering over 300,000 people.
As of February 2019, the unemployment rate in Illinois reached 4.2%.
Illinois's minimum wage will rise to $15 per hour by 2025, making it one of the highest in the nation.
Mattoon was chosen as the site for the Department of Energy's FutureGen project, a 275-megawatt experimental zero emission coal-burning power plant that the DOE just gave a second round of funding. In 2010, after a number of setbacks, the city of Mattoon backed out of the project.
As of 2007, wind energy represented only 1.7% of Illinois's energy production, and it was estimated that wind power could provide 5–10% of the state's energy needs. "Wind Power on the Illinois Horizon" , Rob Kanter, September 14, 2006. University of Illinois Environmental Council. Also, the Illinois General Assembly mandated in 2007 that by 2025, 25% of all electricity generated in Illinois is to come from renewable resources.
The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC), the world's only facility dedicated to researching the ways and means of converting corn (maize) to ethanol is located on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the partners in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a $500 million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant BP.
On May 1, 2019, the Illinois Senate voted to approve a constitutional amendment that would have stricken language from the Illinois Constitution requiring a flat state income tax, in a 73–44 vote. If approved, the amendment would have allowed the state legislature to impose a graduated income tax based on annual income. The governor, J. B. Pritzker, approved the bill on May 27, 2019. It was scheduled for a 2020 general election ballot vote and required 60 percent voter approval to effectively amend the state constitution. The amendment was not approved by Illinoisans, with 55.1% of voters voting "No" on approval and 44.9% voting "Yes".
As of 2017 Chicago had the highest state and local sales tax rate for a U.S. city with a populations above 200,000, at 10.250%. The state of Illinois has the second highest rate of real estate tax: 2.31%, which is second only to New Jersey at 2.44%.
are a de facto user tax on the citizens and visitors to the state of Illinois. Illinois ranks seventh out of the 11 states with the most miles of toll roads, at 282.1 miles. Chicago ranks fourth in most expensive toll roads in America by the mile, with the Chicago Skyway charging 51.2 cents per mile. Illinois also has the 11th highest gasoline tax by state, at 37.5 cents per gallon.
The modern Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest and most attended presidential library in the country. The Illinois State Museum boasts a collection of 13.5 million objects that tell the story of Illinois life, land, people, and art. The ISM is among only 5% of the nation's museums that are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Other historical museums in the state include the Polish Museum of America in Chicago; Magnolia Manor in Cairo; Easley Pioneer Museum in Ipava; the Elihu Benjamin Washburne; Ulysses S. Grant Homes, both in Galena; and the Chanute Air Museum, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul.
The Chicago metropolitan area also hosts two zoos: The Brookfield Zoo, located about ten miles west of the city center in suburban Brookfield, contains more than 2,300 animals and covers . Lincoln Park Zoo is located in Lincoln Park on Chicago's North Side, approximately north of the downtown Chicago. The zoo, including Nature Boardwalk, occupies of the park.
Chicago, in the northeast corner of the state, is a major center for music Centerstage Chicago Retrieved on September 18, 2008 in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of rock and roll), and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed.
The Great Migration of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities brought traditional jazz and blues music to the city, resulting in Chicago blues and "Chicago-style" Dixieland jazz. Notable blues artists included Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf and both Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included Nat King Cole, Gene Ammons, Benny Goodman, and Bud Freeman. Chicago is also well known for its soul music.
In the early 1930s, Gospel music began to gain popularity in Chicago due to Thomas A. Dorsey's contributions at Pilgrim Baptist Church.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hard rock, punk rock, and hip hop also became popular in Chicago. in Chicago include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Chicago Sinfonietta Website . Retrieved on November 7, 2008
Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include: the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, the Mormon Trail, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, the American Discovery Trail, the Pullman National Monument, and New Philadelphia Town Site. The federal government also manages the Shawnee National Forest and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
Two Major League Baseball teams are located in the state. The Chicago Cubs of the National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium, Wrigley Field, and went the longest length of time without a championship in all of major American sport, from 1908 to 2016, when they won the World Series. The Chicago White Sox of the American League won the World Series in 2005, their first since 1917. They play on the city's south side at Rate Field. The Chicago Bears football team has won nine total NFL Championships, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX on January 26, 1986. The Chicago Bulls of the NBA is one of the most recognized basketball in the world, largely as a result of the efforts of Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s. The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926 and became a member of the Original Six once the NHL dropped to that number of teams during World War II. The Blackhawks have won six , most recently in 2015. Chicago Fire FC is a member of MLS and has been one of the league's most successful and best-supported clubs since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that timespan. The team played in Bridgeview, adjacent to Chicago from 2006 to 2019. The team now plays at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Chicago Red Stars have played at the top level of U.S. women's soccer since their formation in 2009, except in the 2011 season. The team currently plays in the National Women's Soccer League, playing at SeatGeek Stadium, the Bridgeview venue it formerly shared with Fire FC. The Chicago Sky have played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) since 2006. The Sky won their first WNBA Championship in 2021. They play at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The Chicago Bandits of the NPF, a women's softball league, have won four league titles, most recently in 2016. They play at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois, in the Chicago area.
Many minor league teams also call Illinois their home. They include the Bloomington Edge of the Indoor Football League, Bloomington Flex of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association, Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball, Chicago Fire FC II of MLS Next Pro, Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League, Kane County Cougars of the American Association, Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League, Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League, Peoria Rivermen of the SPHL, Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League, Rockford IceHogs of the AHL, Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League, Southern Illinois Miners in the Frontier League, Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League, and Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League.
The state features 13 athletic programs that compete in NCAA Division I, the highest level of U.S. college sports. The two most prominent are the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, both members of the Big Ten Conference and the only ones competing in the "Power Five conferences". The Fighting Illini football team has won five national championships and three Rose Bowl Games, whereas the men's basketball team has won 17 conference seasons and played five Final Fours. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have won eight football conference championships and one Rose Bowl Game. The Northern Illinois Huskies compete in the Mid-American Conference, having won four conference championships and earning a bid in the Orange Bowl. Four schools have football programs that compete in the second level of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision. The Illinois State Redbirds and Southern Illinois Salukis are members of the Missouri Valley Conference for non-football sports and the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Eastern Illinois Panthers and Western Illinois Leathernecks are members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The city of Chicago is home to four Division I programs that do not sponsor football: the DePaul Blue Demons of the Big East Conference, Loyola Ramblers of the Atlantic 10 Conference, UIC Flames of the Missouri Valley Conference, and Chicago State Cougars of the Northeast Conference. Finally, two non-football Division I programs are located downstate. The Bradley Braves are Missouri Valley Conference members, and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars compete in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Motor racing oval tracks at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero and the Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, near St. Louis, have hosted NASCAR, Champ Car, and IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America, among other national and regional road racing clubs, have visited the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit and the former Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville. Illinois also has several short tracks and . The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the Route 66 Raceway, which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland Speedway, both host NHRA drag races.
Illinois features several golf courses, such as Olympia Fields, Medinah, Midlothian, Cog Hill, and Conway Farms, which have often hosted the BMW Championship, Western Open, and Women's Western Open. Also, the state has hosted 13 editions of the U.S. Open (latest at Olympia Fields in 2003), six editions of the PGA Championship (latest at Medinah in 2006), three editions of the U.S. Women's Open (latest at The Merit Club), the 2009 Solheim Cup (at Rich Harvest Farms), and the 2012 Ryder Cup (at Medinah). The John Deere Classic is a regular PGA Tour event played in the Quad Cities since 1971, whereas the Encompass Championship is a Champions Tour event since 2013. Previously, the LPGA State Farm Classic was an LPGA Tour event from 1976 to 2011.
The executive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices as well as numerous other departments. The six elected officers are: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer. The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the so-called code departments provide most of the state's services.
The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature, composed of the 118-member Illinois House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois Senate. The members of the General Assembly are elected at the beginning of each even-numbered year. The Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature.
The Judiciary of Illinois is the unified court system of Illinois. It consists of the Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and Circuit Courts. The Supreme Court oversees the administration of the court system.
The administrative divisions of Illinois are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts. The basic subdivision of Illinois are the 102 counties. Eighty-five of the 102 counties are in turn divided into townships and precincts. Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns. Some localities possess home rule, which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent.
Illinois was long seen as a national bellwether, supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century, except for 1916 and 1976. Since the 1992 election, however, Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic Party and is part of the "blue wall" of states that have consistently voted Democratic in the last six presidential elections. In 2000, George W. Bush became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying either Illinois or Vermont, with Donald Trump repeating the feat in 2016. Illinois has not elected a Republican to the Senate since Mark Kirk won in 2010; the last Republicans to hold statewide office were Governor Bruce Rauner and Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, who both left office in 2019.
Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois, in the city of Tampico, raised in Dixon, Illinois, and educated at Eureka College, outside Peoria. Reagan later moved to California during his young adulthood. He then became an actor, and later became California's Governor before being elected president.
Hillary Clinton was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and became the first woman to represent a major political party in the general election of the U.S. presidency. Clinton ran from a platform based in New York State.
, six of these rank in the "first tier" among the top 500 National Universities in the nation, as determined by the U.S. News & World Report rankings: the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Loyola University Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, University of Illinois Chicago, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Northern Illinois University. The University of Chicago is continuously ranked as one of the world's top ten universities on various independent university rankings, and its Booth School of Business, along with Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management consistently rank within the top five graduate business schools in the country and top ten globally. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is often ranked among the best engineering schools in the world and United States.
Illinois also has more than twenty additional accredited four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small liberal arts colleges across the state. Additionally, Illinois supports 49 public community colleges in the Illinois Community College System.
Illinois has the distinction of having the most primary (two-digit) interstates pass through it among all the 50 states with 13. Illinois also ranks third among the fifty states with the most interstate mileage, coming in after California and Texas, which are much bigger states in area.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is responsible for maintaining the U.S Highways in Illinois. The system in Illinois consists of 21 primary highways. Among the U.S. highways that pass through the state, the primary ones are: US 6, US 12, US 14, US 20, US 24, US 30, US 34, US 36, US 40, US 41, US 45, US 50, US 51, US 52, US 54, US 60, US 62, and US 67.
Judy Lee Uphoff (2025). 9780938943280, Center Publications, Center for State Policy and Leadership, University of Illinois Springfield. ISBN 9780938943280
(2025). 9781573563871, Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9781573563871
(1996). 9780803270145, University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803270145
Party balance
In modern national and state politics, Illinois is a Democratic stronghold. Historically, Illinois was a political swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican and the Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid "blue" state in both presidential and congressional campaigns. Illinois's Democratic tendencies are mostly attributable to Cook County and Chicago, by far the state's largest county and city, respectively, which have long been strongly Democratic. The collar counties, affluent suburban counties that surround Cook County, were ancestrally Republican and helped keep the state competitive; however, they have swung toward the left in recent elections as the national Republican Party has become increasingly conservative, which has cemented Democratic dominance in state politics. Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, the state's rural areas are heavily Republican. The dominance of the Chicago area in state elections is so overwhelming that it has influenced a secessionist movement in the downstate region.
History of corruption
Politics in the state have been infamous for highly visible corruption cases, as well as for crusading reformers, such as governors Adlai Stevenson and James R. Thompson. In 2006, former governor George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and bribery, leading to a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence. On December 7, 2011, former governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegations that he conspired to sell the vacated Senate seat left by President Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Blagojevich had earlier been impeached and convicted by the legislature, resulting in his removal from office. In the late 20th century, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was imprisoned for mail fraud; former governor and federal judge Otto Kerner, Jr. was imprisoned for bribery; Secretary of State Paul Powell was investigated and found to have gained great wealth through bribes, and State Auditor of Public Accounts (Comptroller) Orville Hodge was imprisoned for embezzlement. In 1912, William Lorimer, the GOP boss of Chicago, was expelled from the U.S. Senate for bribery, and in 1921, Governor Len Small was found to have defrauded the state of a million dollars.
U.S. presidential elections
Illinois has shown a strong presence in presidential elections. Three presidents have claimed Illinois as their political base when running for president: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and most recently Barack Obama. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but he moved to Illinois at age 21. He served in the General Assembly and represented the 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives before his election to the presidency in 1860. Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio and had a military career that precluded settling down, but on the eve of the Civil War and approaching middle age, he moved to Illinois and thus utilized the state as his home and political base when running for president. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and made Illinois his home after graduating from law school, and later represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate. He then became president in 2008, running as a candidate from his Illinois base.
African-American U.S. senators
Twelve African-Americans have served as members of the United States Senate. Of which three have represented Illinois, the most of any single state: Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama, and Roland Burris, who was appointed to replace Obama after his election to the presidency. Moseley-Braun was the first African-American woman to become a U.S. Senator.
Political families
Several families from Illinois have played particularly prominent roles in politics, in both the Republican Party earlier in the state's history but more recently the Democratic Party, gaining both statewide and national fame.
Ingersoll
The Ingersoll family of Illinois comprised a pair of brothers who held several prominent elected positions representing Illinois.
Stevenson
The Stevenson family, initially rooted in central Illinois and later based in the Chicago metropolitan area, has provided four generations of Illinois officeholders.
Daley
The Daley family's powerbase was in Chicago.
Pritzker
The Pritzker family is based in Chicago and have played important roles in both the private and the public sectors.
Madigan
Members of the Madigan family have held extensive influence in Illinois politics.
Education
Illinois State Board of education
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is autonomous of the governor and the state legislature, and administers public education in the state. Local municipalities and their respective operate individual public schools, but the ISBE audits performance of public schools with the Illinois School Report Card. The ISBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies.
Primary and secondary schools
Education is compulsory for ages 7–17 in Illinois. Schools are commonly, but not exclusively, divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or Middle school, and high school. District territories are often complex in structure. Many areas in the state are actually located in two school districts—one for high school and the other for elementary and middle schools. And such districts do not necessarily share boundaries. A given high school may have several elementary districts that feed into it, yet some of those feeder districts may themselves feed into multiple high school districts.
Colleges and universities
Using the criterion established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, there are eleven "National Universities" in the state.
School financing
Schools in Illinois are funded primarily by property taxes, based on state assessment of property values, rather than direct state contributions. Scholar Tracy Steffes has described Illinois public education as historically "inequitable", a system where one of "the wealthiest of states" is "the stingiest in its support for education". There have been several attempts to reform school funding in Illinois. The most notable attempt came in 1973 with the adoption of the Illinois Resource Equalizer Formula, a measure through which it was hoped funding could be collected and distributed to Illinois schools more equitably. However, opposition from affluent Illinois communities who objected to having to pay for the less well-off school districts (many of them Black majority communities, produced by redlining, white flight, and other "soft" segregation methods) resulted in the formula's abolition in the late 1980s.
Transportation
Because of its central location and its proximity to the Rust Belt and Grain Belt, Illinois is a national crossroads for air, auto, rail, and truck traffic.
Airports
From 1962 until 1998, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) was the busiest airport in the world, measured both in terms of total flights and passengers. While it was surpassed by Atlanta's Hartsfield in 1998 (as Chicago splits its air traffic between O'Hare and Midway airports, while Atlanta uses only one airport), with 59.3 million domestic passengers annually, along with 11.4 million international passengers in 2008, O'Hare consistently remains one of the two or three busiest airports globally, and in some years still ranks number one in total flights. It is a major airline hub for both United Airlines and American Airlines, and a major airport expansion project is currently underway. Midway Airport (MDW), which had been the busiest airport in the world at one point until it was supplanted by O'Hare as the busiest airport in 1962, is now the secondary airport in the Chicago metropolitan area and still ranks as one of the nation's busiest airports. Midway is a major hub for Southwest Airlines and services many other carriers as well. Midway served 17.3 million domestic and international passengers in 2008.
Highways
The Interstate Highways in Illinois are all segments of the Interstate Highway System that are owned and maintained by the state. Major U.S. Interstate highways crossing the state include: Interstate 24 (I-24), I-39, I-41, I-55, I-57, I-64, I-70, I-72, I-74, I-80, I-88, I-90, and I-94.
Buses
Due to its central location, Illinois sees numerous intercity bus services primarily connecting east and west. The Chicago Bus Station is the busiest intercity bus station in the state. The following carriers provide scheduled service: Amtrak Thruway, Barons Bus Lines, Burlington Trailways, Flixbus, Greyhound Lines, Indian Trails, Miller Transportation (Hoosier Ride), Peoria Charter Coach Company, Van Galder Bus Company, and Wisconsin Coach Lines.
Railroads
Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network. Chicago is a national Amtrak hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's Illinois Service, featuring the Chicago to Carbondale Illini and Saluki, the Chicago to Quincy Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr, and the Chicago to St. Louis Lincoln Service. Currently there is trackwork on the Chicago–St. Louis line to bring the maximum speed up to , which would reduce the trip time by an hour and a half. Nearly every North American railway meets at Chicago (including all six Railroad classes railroads), making it the largest and most active rail hub in the country. Extensive heavy rail service is provided in the city proper and some immediate suburbs by the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. One of the largest suburban commuter rail system in the United States, operated by Metra, uses existing rail lines to provide direct commuter rail access for hundreds of suburbs to the city and beyond.
Waterways
In addition to the state's rail lines, the Mississippi River and Illinois River provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. Lake Michigan gives Illinois access to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
See also
Notes
Further reading
(1984). 9780933150867, River City Publishers. ISBN 9780933150867
(2025). 9780252077029, University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252077029
External links
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