Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Illinois

Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force

Chicago, IL had the highest civilian labor force of 103 cities in 2014, at 1.38 million. Harvey, IL had the lowest, at 8,681. The median was 19,438. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,378,290Chicago, IL
Lowest8,681Harvey, IL
Median19,438103 cities

Top 40 cities, 2014

Chicago, IL: 1,378,290 personsChicago, IL1,378,290Aurora, IL: 102,190 personsAurora, IL102,190Naperville, IL: 77,853 personsNaperville, IL77,853Joliet, IL: 75,939 personsJoliet, IL75,939Rockford, IL: 67,685 personsRockford, IL67,685Springfield, IL: 58,328 personsSpringfield, IL58,328Elgin, IL: 57,097 personsElgin, IL57,097Peoria, IL: 55,278 personsPeoria, IL55,278Waukegan, IL: 44,834 personsWaukegan, IL44,834Schaumburg, IL: 44,561 personsSchaumburg, IL44,561Champaign, IL: 43,747 personsChampaign, IL43,747Arlington Heights, IL: 41,394 personsArlington Heights, IL41,394Bloomington, IL: 41,306 personsBloomington, IL41,306Bolingbrook, IL: 40,554 personsBolingbrook, IL40,554Evanston, IL: 39,917 personsEvanston, IL39,917Palatine, IL: 39,792 personsPalatine, IL39,792Cicero, IL: 37,699 personsCicero, IL37,699Decatur, IL: 33,562 personsDecatur, IL33,562Skokie, IL: 33,329 personsSkokie, IL33,329Des Plaines, IL: 33,093 personsDes Plaines, IL33,093Tinley Park, IL: 32,553 personsTinley Park, IL32,553Orland Park, IL: 30,480 personsOrland Park, IL30,480Hoffman Estates, IL: 30,367 personsHoffman Estates, IL30,367Mount Prospect, IL: 29,881 personsMount Prospect, IL29,881Oak Park, IL: 29,620 personsOak Park, IL29,620Oak Lawn, IL: 29,188 personsOak Lawn, IL29,188Wheaton, IL: 29,075 personsWheaton, IL29,075Normal, IL: 29,046 personsNormal, IL29,046Berwyn, IL: 28,261 personsBerwyn, IL28,261Downers Grove, IL: 27,466 personsDowners Grove, IL27,466Lombard, IL: 25,322 personsLombard, IL25,322Buffalo Grove, IL: 24,376 personsBuffalo Grove, IL24,376Carol Stream, IL: 24,079 personsCarol Stream, IL24,079Streamwood, IL: 23,792 personsStreamwood, IL23,792Bartlett, IL: 23,599 personsBartlett, IL23,599Elmhurst, IL: 23,276 personsElmhurst, IL23,276Glenview, IL: 22,791 personsGlenview, IL22,791Crystal Lake, IL: 22,760 personsCrystal Lake, IL22,760DeKalb, IL: 22,745 personsDeKalb, IL22,745Wheeling, IL: 22,597 personsWheeling, IL22,597Chicago, IL: 1,378,290 personsChicago, IL1,378,290Aurora, IL: 102,190 personsAurora, IL102,190Naperville, IL: 77,853 personsNaperville, IL77,853Joliet, IL: 75,939 personsJoliet, IL75,939Rockford, IL: 67,685 personsRockford, IL67,685Springfield, IL: 58,328 personsSpringfield, IL58,328Elgin, IL: 57,097 personsElgin, IL57,097Peoria, IL: 55,278 personsPeoria, IL55,278Waukegan, IL: 44,834 personsWaukegan, IL44,834Schaumburg, IL: 44,561 personsSchaumburg, IL44,561Champaign, IL: 43,747 personsChampaign, IL43,747Arlington Heights, IL: 41,394 personsArlington Heights, IL41,394Bloomington, IL: 41,306 personsBloomington, IL41,306Bolingbrook, IL: 40,554 personsBolingbrook, IL40,554Evanston, IL: 39,917 personsEvanston, IL39,917Palatine, IL: 39,792 personsPalatine, IL39,792Cicero, IL: 37,699 personsCicero, IL37,699Decatur, IL: 33,562 personsDecatur, IL33,562Skokie, IL: 33,329 personsSkokie, IL33,329Des Plaines, IL: 33,093 personsDes Plaines, IL33,093Tinley Park, IL: 32,553 personsTinley Park, IL32,553Orland Park, IL: 30,480 personsOrland Park, IL30,480Hoffman Estates, IL: 30,367 personsHoffman Estates, IL30,367Mount Prospect, IL: 29,881 personsMount Prospect, IL29,881Oak Park, IL: 29,620 personsOak Park, IL29,620Oak Lawn, IL: 29,188 personsOak Lawn, IL29,188Wheaton, IL: 29,075 personsWheaton, IL29,075Normal, IL: 29,046 personsNormal, IL29,046Berwyn, IL: 28,261 personsBerwyn, IL28,261Downers Grove, IL: 27,466 personsDowners Grove, IL27,466Lombard, IL: 25,322 personsLombard, IL25,322Buffalo Grove, IL: 24,376 personsBuffalo Grove, IL24,376Carol Stream, IL: 24,079 personsCarol Stream, IL24,079Streamwood, IL: 23,792 personsStreamwood, IL23,792Bartlett, IL: 23,599 personsBartlett, IL23,599Elmhurst, IL: 23,276 personsElmhurst, IL23,276Glenview, IL: 22,791 personsGlenview, IL22,791Crystal Lake, IL: 22,760 personsCrystal Lake, IL22,760DeKalb, IL: 22,745 personsDeKalb, IL22,745Wheeling, IL: 22,597 personsWheeling, IL22,597
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
persons		Change on 2013
1Chicago, IL1,378,290-0.6%
2Aurora, IL102,190-0.4%
3Naperville, IL77,853+0.9%
4Joliet, IL75,939-1.2%
5Rockford, IL67,685-1.1%
6Springfield, IL58,328+0.5%
7Elgin, IL57,097+0.2%
8Peoria, IL55,278-2.1%
9Waukegan, IL44,834-0.2%
10Schaumburg, IL44,561-0.4%
11Champaign, IL43,747+0.8%
12Arlington Heights, IL41,394+0.1%
13Bloomington, IL41,306-1.5%
14Bolingbrook, IL40,554-0.1%
15Evanston, IL39,917-0.1%
16Palatine, IL39,792-0.3%
17Cicero, IL37,699-0.6%
18Decatur, IL33,562-3.5%
19Skokie, IL33,329-0.5%
20Des Plaines, IL33,093-0.4%
21Tinley Park, IL32,553-0%
22Orland Park, IL30,480-0.2%
23Hoffman Estates, IL30,367-0.5%
24Mount Prospect, IL29,881+0.2%
25Oak Park, IL29,620-0.5%
26Oak Lawn, IL29,188-0.4%
27Wheaton, IL29,0750%
28Normal, IL29,046-1.4%
29Berwyn, IL28,261-1.2%
30Downers Grove, IL27,466-0%
31Lombard, IL25,322-0.1%
32Buffalo Grove, IL24,376+0.1%
33Carol Stream, IL24,079-0.4%
34Streamwood, IL23,792-0.4%
35Bartlett, IL23,599-0.3%
36Elmhurst, IL23,276+0.2%
37Glenview, IL22,791+2.8%
38Crystal Lake, IL22,760-0.2%
39DeKalb, IL22,745+0.4%
40Wheeling, IL22,597-0.5%
41Belleville, IL22,329-1.5%
42Moline, IL22,194-1.3%
43Plainfield, IL21,965+0.8%
44Urbana, IL21,662+0.3%
45Hanover Park, IL21,081-0.9%
46Romeoville, IL20,316-0.8%
47Woodridge, IL20,251+0.2%
48Park Ridge, IL19,745+0.2%
49Addison, IL19,678-0.5%
50Glendale Heights, IL19,558-0.4%
51Quincy, IL19,449-1.1%
52Elk Grove Village, IL19,438-0.8%
53Carpentersville, IL19,147-0.3%
54Rock Island, IL18,573-1.1%
55St. Charles, IL18,316+0.3%
56Oswego, IL18,107+2.5%
57Mundelein, IL17,982+0.6%
58Gurnee, IL17,068-0.1%
59Algonquin, IL17,032-0.5%
60Calumet City, IL16,886-1.3%
61Northbrook, IL16,344-0.1%
62Lake in the Hills, IL16,241-0.8%
63Pekin, IL16,078-2.5%
64Oak Forest, IL15,457-0.7%
65Round Lake Beach, IL14,997-0.9%
66Highland Park, IL14,926+0.4%
67Lansing, IL14,676-1.4%
68Burbank, IL14,534-0.4%
68West Chicago, IL14,534-0.7%
70Vernon Hills, IL14,519+1.5%
71New Lenox, IL14,167+1.3%
72McHenry, IL14,155-0.5%
73Glen Ellyn, IL14,073+0.1%
74Niles, IL14,060-0.2%
75Lockport, IL13,9110%
76Batavia, IL13,737+0.4%
77Elmwood Park, IL13,727-1.1%
78O'Fallon, IL13,607-0.7%
79Westmont, IL13,573-0.4%
80Chicago Heights, IL13,424-2.2%
81Granite City, IL13,239-1.3%
82Galesburg, IL13,227-0.3%
83Danville, IL13,141-2%
84Woodstock, IL13,129-0.4%
85Homer Glen, IL13,116+0.1%
86Edwardsville, IL12,949+0.7%
87Wilmette, IL12,939+0.7%
88Collinsville, IL12,842-0.9%
89Melrose Park, IL12,147-1.9%
90Morton Grove, IL11,763-0.2%
91Carbondale, IL11,752-0.3%
92Belvidere, IL11,745-0.4%
93Alton, IL11,729-1.4%
94Kankakee, IL11,235-2.2%
95Zion, IL11,170-0.6%
96Dolton, IL11,055-2.1%
97Huntley, IL11,027+0.8%
98Freeport, IL10,951-2.5%
99Maywood, IL10,501-3.8%
100Park Forest, IL10,435-1.9%
101North Chicago, IL9,198+1.1%
102East St. Louis, IL9,133-1.4%
103Harvey, IL8,681-2.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force, 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_illinois_by_2014,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2014. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force, 2014
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Illinois by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Chicago, IL, with 1.38 million in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Harvey, IL, with 8,681 in 2014.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Illinois: more rankings