Illinois Population and Demographics

Are you tired of spending 10+ hours searching for demographic and population data for Illinois? We have all of the data you need by state, county, city, and zip code that will save you many hours of research!

In this article, we'll explore most of the 190+ data points we have for Illinois, covering popular demographics statistics like household income, race, age and gender, educational attainment, poverty, housing, and transportation.

The data on this page is from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey from the US Census Bureau.

Richest Zip Codes in Illinois

In the table below, we've ranked the richest zip codes in Illinois based on the average (or mean) household income. To do this, we only look at zip codes that have a population of at least 500 people and a reasonable margin of error for the data.

If the margin of error for the mean income is greater than 50% of the estimate, we don't use it. This is to try and make the data less likely to be skewed by outliers with very small population areas or estimates that are not very accurate.

To view details demographics data for a specific zip code, click on the link in the table above. You can also read our article here on the richest zip codes in Illinois.

Richest Cities in Illinois

We can also find the same information for the richest cities in Illinois. The table below ranks the top 10 cities in Illinois by average household income by using the same criteria as we did with the zip codes.

To view details demographics data for a specific city, click on the link in the table above. You can also read our article here on the richest cities in Illinois.

Median Household Income

According to the latest ACS 5-year survey in 2022, the median household income in Illinois is $78,433.00.

The chart below shows the average household income by age in Illinois.

• Under 25
  $38,244.00
• 25 to 44
  $87,450.00
• 45 to 64
  $95,019.00
• 65 and over
  $55,569.00

Average Household Income

A very commonly asked question is "what is the average household income in Illinois?". The official term for the average household income is the mean household income. The mean household income is the total income of all households divided by the number of households.

The average (or mean) household income in Illinois is $108,873.00.

12.07% of households in Illinois are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers for Illinois

We can also look at the household income tiers. This lets you see how many households fall into each of the earnings brackets and what percentage that bracket is of the total number of households.

The chart below shows the household income brackets to see which age groups have the highest median income. The actual data is more granular than these brackets, but we've simplified them into bigger categories to make reviewing the data for Illinois easier to view.

You can purchase the raw data above, which will have the full income tiers with smaller jumps in household income.

• Less than $24,999
  15.46%
• $25,000 to $49,999
  17.14%
• $50,000 to $74,999
  15.43%
• $75,000 to $99,999
  12.86%
• $100,000 to $149,999
  17.64%
• $150,000 to $199,999
  9.41%
• $200,000 or more
  12.07%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income is the average income of all people in Illinois. This is calculated by dividing the total income of all people in Illinois by the total number of people in Illinois.

It differs from the average or mean household income because it includes all people in Illinois and not just the people who earn an income (i.e. children, retirees, unemployed, etc.).

The per capita income in Illinois is $43,198.00.

Population in Illinois by Race and Ethnicity

The total population in Illinois is currently 12,757,634 people.

The race and ethnicity of the population in Illinois can be very important for social research, economics, and marketing to a multi-culturial society.

Whether you want to target products or services to a particular race or ethnicity, or provide housing and new businesses to improve areas with a larger ethnic minority population, this data is very valuable for discovering suitable areas.

The chart below breaks down the population and percentage for each race and ethnicity in Illinois.

• 2.10% White
  273,210
• 82.20% Black/African American
  10,481,930
• 59.60% Native
  7,601,615
• 11.60% Hispanic
  1,476,071
• 13.70% Asian
  1,744,151
• 0.10% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  10,119
• 0.00% Two or more races
  2,979
• 5.70% Other
  731,197

Population of Illinois by Age and Gender

Another very important demographics statistic for Illinois is the age and gender of the population. The age and gender of the population can be used to track trends in population growth or decline, and for businesses, the data can be used to identify people important to you and your business need.

In the table below, we show age groups at a 10 year granularity for ease of use. The raw data, which can be purchased above, includes age and gender at a 5 year granularity.

Education Levels

Educational attainment is a very useful statistic that can give insights into other data such as the average household income, unemployment levels, and literacy.

What this means is that it is likely for areas that have higher levels of education to have higher average household incomes, lower unemployment rates, and higher literacy rates.

The chart below shows the educational attainment of the population in Illinois.

• Master's degree or higher
  17.03%
• Bachelor's degree
  34.93%
• Some college or associate's degree
  10.58%
• High school diploma or equivalent
  34.48%
• Less than high school diploma
  2.98%

Unemployment Rates

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the population that is actively looking for work but is unable to find a job. The unemployment rate is a very important statistic for Illinois because it can show how many people are actively looking for work and how many people are unable to find a job.

Lower levels of unemployment is generally seen as a positive sign for the economy. It also makes the government in Illinois look good because it shows that they are doing a good job of creating jobs, working to capacity, being efficient, and keeping the economy strong.

The unemployment rate is calculated using the total population in Illinois that are over the age of 16.

The current population in Illinois that are over the age of 16 is 10,274,014 people.

The unemployment rate in Illinois is 6.00%, which means 397,747 people are unemployed.

Median Age in Illinois

The median age is an interesting metric because it gives us an idea of the age distribution of people in Illinois. You know when you see a median age that it is the age where half of the population is older and half is younger than it.

For demographic studies, this can be used to infer and compare date to things such as birth rates, the age of parents, and so on.

An increasing median age can be a sign of an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population. This is because older people tend to have fewer children and die more often than younger people.

The median age in Illinois is 38.7 years old.

We can also look at the median age by gender to compare the see how each group compares to the total median age:

Median age by gender in Illinois

38.7

Total

37.6

Male

39.8

Female

Households and Families

There are a total of 4,968,761 households in Illinois, and the average household size is 2.51 people.

For families, the total number is 3,134,103, and the average family size is 3.18 people.

8.20% of those families in Illinois are living below the poverty line.

The table below shows the poverty thresholds for Illinois in .

Households and Families by Marital Status

There are four types of household and family, as defined by the Census Bureau:

• Married-couple
• Male householder, no spouse present
• Female householder, no spouse present
• Nonfamily household

In the table below, you can see the total households and families in Illinois for each type, as well as the average sizes.

Housing Data in Illinois

There are total of 5,427,357 housing units in Illinois. Of those units, 4,968,761 (91.55%) are occupied, and 458,596 (8.45%) are vacant.

Rental Rates

Of the 5,427,357 housing units in Illinois, 1,585,347 (29.21%) are occupied by renters. The median rent paid by renters is $1,179.00.

Owner occupied housing units make up the remaining 61.04% of housing units, with 3,312,809 housing units in total.

The table below breaks down how much rent is paid by renters in Illinois.

• No rent paid
  70,605
• Less than $500
  126,205
• $500 to $999
  446,711
• $1,000 to $1,499
  521,590
• $1,500 to $1,999
  267,137
• $2,000 to $2,499
  124,448
• $2,500 to $2,999
  49,450
• $3,000 or more
  49,806

Property Values

The median value of a property in Illinois is $239,100.00.

The table below breaks down the range of valuations for all properties in Illinois.

• Less than $50,000
  180,748
• $50,000 to $99,999
  324,962
• $100,000 to $149,999
  391,156
• $150,000 to $199,999
  435,868
• $200,000 to $299,999
  776,095
• $300,000 to $499,999
  785,156
• $500,000 to $999,999
  339,326
• $1,000,000 or more
  79,498

Property Age

We can also look at the number of properties built in a given year to see the spread of property age in Illinois.

• 1939 or earlier
  1,117,132
• 1940 to 1949
  317,571
• 1950 to 1959
  663,801
• 1960 to 1969
  626,712
• 1970 to 1979
  786,037
• 1980 to 1989
  494,950
• 1990 to 1999
  591,417
• 2000 to 2009
  592,086
• 2010 to 2013
  226,451
• 2014 or later
  11,200

Vehicles Available per Household

Finally, we have data on how many vehicles each household in Illinois has. The table below breaks down the number of vehicles available per household.

• No vehicles available
  537,346
• 1 vehicle available
  1,740,538
• 2 vehicles available
  1,771,536
• 3 or more vehicles available
  919,341

Commuting to Work in Illinois

The time and means of commuting to work are useful metrics to look at because they can be correlated against other data such as income and education level.

Does a longer commuting time indicate a higher average income? If so, has the huge increase in home working during the pandemic changed this?

Using these metrics, we can get a better understanding of the demographics of Illinois, how they commute, and how that correlates to other data points.

The average travel time is 28.4 minutes, and the chart below covers the range of travel times across the population of Illinois.

• Less than 5 minutes
  159,209
• 5 to 9 minutes
  500,372
• 10 to 14 minutes
  655,844
• 15 to 19 minutes
  717,875
• 20 to 24 minutes
  683,531
• 25 to 29 minutes
  355,781
• 30 to 34 minutes
  763,715
• 35 to 39 minutes
  199,298
• 40 to 44 minutes
  259,879
• 45 to 59 minutes
  554,707
• 60 to 89 minutes
  426,490
• 90 or more minutes
  148,612

We can also look at the means of transport in Illinois to see which modes of transport people are using to commute to work.

• Drove alone
  4,233,084
• Carpooled
  477,791
• Public transportation
  434,228
• Walked
  165,816
• Other means
  114,394
• Worked from home
  746,578

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given you the demographics data you were looking for in Illinois.

If you need more demographics data, or you need the data listed above in spreadsheet form with more granular grouping, head back to the top of this page where you can purchase the complete demographics data for Illinois.

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