Demographics of Chicago

Chicago is a very large and diverse city in the United States. It is the third largest city in the country, with over 2.7 million people living there in 2020. The city is part of an even bigger area called the Chicago metropolitan area, which has about 9.6 million people.

People in Chicago come from many different backgrounds. In 2020, about 35.9% of the people were White, 29.2% were Black, and 7.0% were Asian. Some people identified as Native American or Alaska Native, while many others were from two or more races or other races. About 29.8% of the city's people were Hispanic or Latino.

Chicago grew very quickly during its early years. From just under 30,000 people, the city grew to over 1 million in forty years, becoming one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. By 1890, it was already the fifth largest city globally, and later it became the third largest. Even after a big fire in 1871, the city kept growing and reached over 3 million people within fifty years.

Population

In the 2010 United States census, there were over 2.6 million people living in Chicago. This city is very busy and full of people, with many families and homes. In 2000, Chicago had a lot of people living close together, making it one of the busiest cities in the country. There were also many places to live, with homes spread out across the city.

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1840	4,470	—
1850	29,963	570.3%
1860	112,172	274.4%
1870	298,977	166.5%
1880	503,185	68.3%
1890	1,099,850	118.6%
1900	1,698,575	54.4%
1910	2,185,283	28.7%
1920	2,701,705	23.6%
1930	3,376,438	25.0%
1940	3,396,808	0.6%
1950	3,620,962	6.6%
1960	3,550,404	−1.9%
1970	3,366,957	−5.2%
1980	3,005,072	−10.7%
1990	2,783,726	−7.4%
2000	2,896,016	4.0%
2010	2,695,598	−6.9%
2020	2,746,388	1.9%

Racial and ethnic makeup

According to 2021 US Census Bureau one-year estimates, the population of Chicago, Illinois, was 36.1% White (32.9% Non-Hispanic White and 3.2% Hispanic White), 28.5% Black or African American, 6.9% Asian, 1.1% Native American and Alaskan Native, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.1% Some Other Race, and 14.2% from two or more races.

The White population is the largest racial category and includes 10.9% of Hispanics who identify as White. By ethnicity, 28.8% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 71.2% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). If treated as a separate category, Hispanics are the largest minority group in Chicago.

In 2021, 20.4% of the population was foreign born. Of this, 51.8% came from Latin America, 16.8% from Europe, 24.8% from Asia and 6.6% from other parts of the world. As of 2018 - 2022, the Chicago metropolitan area had the fourth highest foreign-born population in the United States, surpassed only by New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Chicago is one of only four US metropolitan areas to be considered "major-continuous gateways" for immigration from the early 20th century until present-day.

In 2016, the population of Hispanics exceeded that of Blacks to become Chicago's largest minority group with non-Hispanic Whites representing 32.6% of the population, Hispanics at 29.7% of the population, and Blacks at 29.3% of the population. The large Hispanic population is rather recent, with the segregation between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites being low when compared to Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites. Over the years neighborhoods have seen gradual ethnic change with White ethnic neighborhoods like Brighton Park transitioning to Hispanic, while former Latino neighborhoods like West Town transition to majority non-Hispanic White.

The vast majority of Chicago Hispanics are of Mexican descent. As of the 2010 Census, 578,100 residents of the City of Chicago had full or partial Mexican origins.

The Chicago metropolitan area has the third largest African American population, behind only New York City and Atlanta.

The African American population by census tract

The main ethnic groups in Chicago include Irish, German, Italian, Mexican, Assyrian, Arab, Armenian, Bangladeshi, Jews, English, Bosnian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Czech, Greek, Black, Korean, Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Albanian, Pakistani, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Swedish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Belgian, Cuban, Vietnamese, and Puerto Rican.

Chicago has a large Irish American population, with many still residing on the South Side. The early years of Chicago coincided with the significant rise in Irish immigration in the 1830s and 1840s. Some Irish already lived in Chicago when it was incorporated as a city in 1837. By 1850 Irish immigrants accounted for about one-fifth of the city's population. Many of the city's politicians are descendants of this group. The Irish laid the foundations for many of the city's Roman Catholic churches, schools and hospitals. The Irish are still very active in the city's politics.

Germans have constituted a major portion of ethnic whites in Chicago since the beginning of the city's history. From 1850, when Germans constituted one-sixth of Chicago's population, until the turn of the 20th century, people of German descent constituted the largest ethnic group in the city, followed by Irish, Poles, and Swedes. Although their numbers dropped because of reduced emigration from Germany and because World War I had made it unpopular to acknowledge one's German heritage, 22 percent of Chicago's population still did so in 1920.

The city has one of the largest Assyrian diaspora populations, with the Assyrian community of Metropolitan Chicago numbering as many as 80,000. There is also a smaller Armenian diaspora in the Greater Chicago area, numbering around 10,000. There are seven Armenian Apostolic Churches in Chicagoland.

Bobak's Sausage Company's former Polish supermarket on the Southwest Side of Chicago

The city is the home to a large Romanian American community with more than 100,000.

Polish people have been prevalent from the city's early history, but the largest waves of immigration were in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; they have been influential in the economic and social development of Chicago. The Taste of Polonia Festival in Jefferson Park celebrates Polish culture annually on Labor Day weekend. The Southwest Side is home to the largest concentration of Gorals (Carpathian highlanders) outside Europe. Many Polish churches are found in Chicago, built in the Polish Cathedral style of architecture.

Chicago has one of the largest concentrations of Italian Americans in the US, with more than 500,000 living in the metropolitan area. Chicago has the third largest Italian American population in the United States, behind only New York City and Philadelphia. Chicago's Italian community has historically been based along the Taylor Street and Grand Avenue corridors on the West Side of the city.

Other prevalent European ethnic groups include the Czechs, and Ukrainians. At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago was the third-largest Czech city in the world, after Prague and Vienna. There are approximately 14,000 Ukrainians living within the Chicago city limits. Chicago has a small community of Swedish Americans, who make up 0.9% of Chicago's population and number at 23,990. After the Great Chicago Fire, many Swedish carpenters helped to rebuild the city.

A demographic map of Chicago, 1950.

The city has a large population of Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Croats, Jewish, Greeks and Serbs. Chicago has a sizeable Romanian American community, As of 2018, the Lithuanian population is over 100,000 and was formerly over 300,000; the world's oldest continuously published Lithuanian-language newspaper Draugus is based in Chicago. The city is the seat of the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Chicago has the third-largest South Asian population in the United States, especially many Indians, Bangladeshi and Pakistanis. The Devon Avenue corridor on the far north side is one of the largest South Asian neighborhoods/markets in North America. As of the 2010 Census, Chicago has the third-largest Puerto Rican population in the continental United States, after New York City and Philadelphia, and the fourth largest Mexican population in the United States after Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Houston. There are about 185,000 Arabs in Cook County with another 75,000 in the five surrounding counties. Chicago is the center of the Palestinian and Jordanian immigrant communities in the United States, and additionally has a large Assyrian population.

There is a substantial Romani community in Chicago. The Roma first came to Chicago during the large waves of Southern and Eastern European immigration to the United States in the 1880s until World War I.

The first Bosnians settled in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, joining other immigrants seeking better opportunities and better lives. As the former Yugoslavia continued to find its identity as a nation over the last century, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina sought stability and new beginnings in the city of Chicago many intending to return to their homeland. Bosnian Muslims were early leaders in the establishment of Chicago's Muslim community. In 1906, they established Dzemijetul Hajrije (The Benevolent Society) of Illinois to preserve the community's religious and national traditions as well as to provide mutual assistance for funerals and illness. The organization established chapters in Gary, Indiana, in 1913, and Butte, Montana, in 1916, and is the oldest existing Muslim organization in the United States. The Bosnians were the first Muslims in the United States to incorporate an Islamic Association in 1906 in Chicago, Illinois. Today, Chicago and St. Louis are tied for the largest Bosnian population in the United States and the largest Bosnian population outside of Europe, with 70,000 in each city. 40,000 of them came as refugees during the 1990s and early 2000s.

The city saw an increase of 20,606 people from July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008, according to census data. This marked the second consecutive year of population increase, while still not yet returning to the official Census 2000 population level. As of the 2007 US Census American Community Survey the largest European ancestries were:

Irish: (201,836)
German: (200,392)
Polish: (179,868)
Italian: (96,599)
English: (60,307)

**Chicago, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition**
*Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.*
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 1970	Pop 1980	Pop 1990	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 1970	% 1980	% 1990	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	2,207,767	1,299,557	1,063,281	907,166	854,717	863,622	65.57%	43.25%	38.20%	31.32%	31.71%	31.45%
Black or African American alone (NH)	1,102,620	1,187,905	1,076,099	1,053,739	872,286	787,551	32.75%	39.53%	38.66%	36.39%	32.36%	28.68%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	x	6,072	5,370	4,253	4,097	3,332	x	0.20%	0.19%	0.15%	0.15%	0.12%
Asian alone (NH)	36,262	68,347	99,252	124,437	144,903	189,857	1.08%	2.27%	3.57%	4.30%	5.38%	6.91%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	x	844	1,046	972	557	529	x	0.03%	0.04%	0.03%	0.02%	0.02%
Other race alone (NH)	20,308	20,284	3,363	4,331	4,227	11,536	0.60%	0.67%	0.12%	0.15%	0.16%	0.42%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	x	x	x	47,474	35,949	70,443	x	x	x	1.64%	1.33%	2.56%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	x	422,063	535,315	753,644	778,862	819,518	x	14.05%	19.23%	26.02%	28.89%	29.84%
Total	3,366,957	3,005,072	2,783,726	2,896,016	2,695,598	2,746,388	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Racial Makeup of Chicago (2024)

White alone (36.5%)

Black alone (26.3%)

Native American alone (1.43%)

Asian alone (7.84%)

Pacific Islander alone (0.04%)

Other race alone (16.4%)

Two or more races (11.5%)

Racial Makeup of Chicago excluding Hispanics from Racial Categories (2024)
NH=Non-Hispanic

White NH (32.3%)

Black NH (25.8%)

Native American NH (0.13%)

Asian NH (7.78%)

Pacific Islander NH (0.02%)

Other race NH (0.40%)

Two or more races NH (3.38%)

Hispanic Any Race (30.2%)

Racial Makeup of Hispanics in Chicago (2024)

White alone (13.8%)

Black alone (1.59%)

Native American alone (4.30%)

Asian alone (0.21%)

Pacific Islander alone (0.05%)

Other race alone (53.1%)

Two or more races (27.0%)

Households

In Chicago, there were over 1 million households. About 29% of these households had children under 18 living with them. Around 35% were married couples living together, 19% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40% were non-families. About 33% of households were made up of individuals, and 9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older.

The average household size was 2.67, and the average family size was 3.50. The city's population was spread out, with 26% under 18, 11% from 18 to 24, 33% from 25 to 44, 19% from 45 to 64, and 10% 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 94 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91 males.

The median income for a household was $38,625, and for a family, it was $42,724. Males earned a median income of $35,907, while females earned $30,536. The per capita income for the city was $20,175. About 20% of the population and 17% of families lived below the poverty line. Specifically, 28% of those under 18 and 16% of those 75 and older were living below the poverty line.

Chicago demographics
2000 Census Data	Chicago	Illinois	US
Total population	2,853,114	12,421,906
Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000	+4.0%	+8.6%	+13.1%
Population density	12,750.3/mi²	223.4/mi²	79.6/mi²
Median household income (1999)	$38,625	$46,590	$41,994
Per capita income (1999)	$20,175	$23,104	$21,587
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.5%	26.1%	24.4%
Foreign born	21.7%	12.3%	11.1%
White	31.7%	73.5%	75.1%
Black	32.4%	15.1%	12.3%
Hispanic/Latino origin (of any race)	28.9%	12.3%	12.5%
Asian	5.4%	3.4%	3.6%

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Chicago

Chicago is a very large and diverse city. Many different kinds of people live there, making it a special place with lots of cultures and traditions. In 2020, more than 2.7 million people called Chicago home, which is a big part of the area's total population of about 9.6 million.

Languages

According to the 2022 American Community Survey, many people in Chicago speak different languages. Most people, about 64%, speak only English. But many others speak different languages too. Spanish is the most common non-English language, spoken by about 24% of people. Other common languages include Indo-European languages, Asian and Pacific Island languages, and some other languages.

LGBT population

Main article: LGBT culture in Chicago

Chicago is home to one of the largest communities of people who identify as LGBTQ+ in the United States. In 2015, about 4% of the city's population identified this way. Since same-sex marriage became legal in Illinois in 2013, more than 15,000 same-sex couples have married in Cook County alone.

Religion

Most people in Chicago believe in Christianity, making up about 71% of those who worship. The area also has followers of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, among other beliefs.

Chicago is home to important places for different religions, such as the only Catholic cathedral in the city, which is the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the Ebenezer Lutheran Church. There is also the Midwest Buddhist Temple in the area.