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People Statistics · City

Population of the urban area in Chicago

1975 – 2025 · 11 data points 1 of 11 · Towns of Illinois Updated Oct 21, 2026
People · Chicago

Source: European Commission JRC — GHSL Urban Centre Database, 1975 – 2025

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Overview 8 figures People 21 figures Economy 20 figures Housing 8 figures Education 10 figures Tourism 3 figures Climate 8 figures
Latest value · 2025 5,318,735 +0.5% since 2020
Towns of Illinois · 2025 1 of 11 Place 1 is the highest value.
since 2015 +1.8% +0.2% a year on average
Population of the urban area, 1975 – 2025 people · Chicago
1975 
 
1985 
 
1995 
 
2005 
 
2015 
 
5.3M
2025 

Source: European Commission JRC — GHSL Urban Centre Database, 1975 – 2025

The series at a glance Chicago · 1975 – 2025
Latest value 5,318,735 · 2025
First value 4,813,475 · 1975
Highest 5,372,293 · 2000
Lowest 4,813,475 · 1975
Average change +0.2% a year on average
Data points 11

By year

All years · 1975 – 2025

YearChicagoChange
2025 5,318,735 +0.5%
2020 5,289,806 +1.2%
2015 5,224,980 −0.3%
2010 5,239,282 −1.4%
2005 5,314,325 −1.1%
2000 5,372,293 +4.2%
1995 5,156,014 +5.3%
1990 4,895,556 +0.7%
1985 4,863,938 +0.6%
1980 4,836,098 +0.5%
1975 4,813,475

Source: European Commission JRC — GHSL Urban Centre Database, 1975 – 2025

Ranking · Towns of Illinois

1990 · Place 1 is the highest value.

Year: 2025 2020 2015 2010 2005 2000 1995 1990 1985 1980 1975
Highest first Lowest first A–Z
#TerritoryPopulation of the urban area
1 Chicago 4.9M
2 Aurora 242K
3 Bolingbrook 195K
4 Wheaton 163K
5 Champaign 78,244
6 Bloomington 69,366
7 Chicago Heights 61,408
8 Waukegan 59,428
9 Elgin 57,295
10 Joliet 49,309
11 Lake in the Hills 40,896

Source: European Commission JRC — GHSL Urban Centre Database, 1990

What it means

How many people live in the built-up city as a whole, regardless of municipal borders.

How it is calculated

Satellite maps of buildings and census data are combined into a 1 km grid; the continuous dense area of at least 50,000 people is the urban centre. Every five years from 1975; 2030 is a projection.