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 2018, at 1.43 million. East St. Louis, IL had the lowest, at 7,336. The median was 19,111. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,427,603Chicago, IL
Lowest7,336East St. Louis, IL
Median19,111103 cities

Top 40 cities, 2018

Chicago, IL: 1,427,603 personsChicago, IL1,427,603Aurora, IL: 99,360 personsAurora, IL99,360Joliet, IL: 77,880 personsJoliet, IL77,880Naperville, IL: 76,806 personsNaperville, IL76,806Rockford, IL: 71,091 personsRockford, IL71,091Elgin, IL: 61,112 personsElgin, IL61,112Springfield, IL: 55,735 personsSpringfield, IL55,735Peoria, IL: 54,184 personsPeoria, IL54,184Waukegan, IL: 48,268 personsWaukegan, IL48,268Champaign, IL: 44,630 personsChampaign, IL44,630Bloomington, IL: 42,440 personsBloomington, IL42,440Schaumburg, IL: 41,827 personsSchaumburg, IL41,827Cicero, IL: 41,454 personsCicero, IL41,454Bolingbrook, IL: 40,971 personsBolingbrook, IL40,971Arlington Heights, IL: 40,515 personsArlington Heights, IL40,515Evanston, IL: 39,389 personsEvanston, IL39,389Palatine, IL: 38,173 personsPalatine, IL38,173Decatur, IL: 32,780 personsDecatur, IL32,780Skokie, IL: 32,567 personsSkokie, IL32,567Des Plaines, IL: 31,694 personsDes Plaines, IL31,694Berwyn, IL: 30,316 personsBerwyn, IL30,316Mount Prospect, IL: 29,964 personsMount Prospect, IL29,964Tinley Park, IL: 29,103 personsTinley Park, IL29,103Oak Park, IL: 28,949 personsOak Park, IL28,949Orland Park, IL: 28,870 personsOrland Park, IL28,870Hoffman Estates, IL: 28,506 personsHoffman Estates, IL28,506Normal, IL: 28,387 personsNormal, IL28,387Oak Lawn, IL: 28,318 personsOak Lawn, IL28,318Wheaton, IL: 27,521 personsWheaton, IL27,521Downers Grove, IL: 26,612 personsDowners Grove, IL26,612Lombard, IL: 25,077 personsLombard, IL25,077Buffalo Grove, IL: 24,156 personsBuffalo Grove, IL24,156Bartlett, IL: 23,624 personsBartlett, IL23,624Glenview, IL: 23,280 personsGlenview, IL23,280Plainfield, IL: 23,153 personsPlainfield, IL23,153Romeoville, IL: 22,935 personsRomeoville, IL22,935Elmhurst, IL: 22,567 personsElmhurst, IL22,567Carol Stream, IL: 22,113 personsCarol Stream, IL22,113Wheeling, IL: 22,069 personsWheeling, IL22,069Streamwood, IL: 21,963 personsStreamwood, IL21,963Chicago, IL: 1,427,603 personsChicago, IL1,427,603Aurora, IL: 99,360 personsAurora, IL99,360Joliet, IL: 77,880 personsJoliet, IL77,880Naperville, IL: 76,806 personsNaperville, IL76,806Rockford, IL: 71,091 personsRockford, IL71,091Elgin, IL: 61,112 personsElgin, IL61,112Springfield, IL: 55,735 personsSpringfield, IL55,735Peoria, IL: 54,184 personsPeoria, IL54,184Waukegan, IL: 48,268 personsWaukegan, IL48,268Champaign, IL: 44,630 personsChampaign, IL44,630Bloomington, IL: 42,440 personsBloomington, IL42,440Schaumburg, IL: 41,827 personsSchaumburg, IL41,827Cicero, IL: 41,454 personsCicero, IL41,454Bolingbrook, IL: 40,971 personsBolingbrook, IL40,971Arlington Heights, IL: 40,515 personsArlington Heights, IL40,515Evanston, IL: 39,389 personsEvanston, IL39,389Palatine, IL: 38,173 personsPalatine, IL38,173Decatur, IL: 32,780 personsDecatur, IL32,780Skokie, IL: 32,567 personsSkokie, IL32,567Des Plaines, IL: 31,694 personsDes Plaines, IL31,694Berwyn, IL: 30,316 personsBerwyn, IL30,316Mount Prospect, IL: 29,964 personsMount Prospect, IL29,964Tinley Park, IL: 29,103 personsTinley Park, IL29,103Oak Park, IL: 28,949 personsOak Park, IL28,949Orland Park, IL: 28,870 personsOrland Park, IL28,870Hoffman Estates, IL: 28,506 personsHoffman Estates, IL28,506Normal, IL: 28,387 personsNormal, IL28,387Oak Lawn, IL: 28,318 personsOak Lawn, IL28,318Wheaton, IL: 27,521 personsWheaton, IL27,521Downers Grove, IL: 26,612 personsDowners Grove, IL26,612Lombard, IL: 25,077 personsLombard, IL25,077Buffalo Grove, IL: 24,156 personsBuffalo Grove, IL24,156Bartlett, IL: 23,624 personsBartlett, IL23,624Glenview, IL: 23,280 personsGlenview, IL23,280Plainfield, IL: 23,153 personsPlainfield, IL23,153Romeoville, IL: 22,935 personsRomeoville, IL22,935Elmhurst, IL: 22,567 personsElmhurst, IL22,567Carol Stream, IL: 22,113 personsCarol Stream, IL22,113Wheeling, IL: 22,069 personsWheeling, IL22,069Streamwood, IL: 21,963 personsStreamwood, IL21,963
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

RankCities2018
persons		Change on 2017
1Chicago, IL1,427,603-0.5%
2Aurora, IL99,360+0.1%
3Joliet, IL77,880-0.3%
4Naperville, IL76,806+0.2%
5Rockford, IL71,091+1.6%
6Elgin, IL61,112+0.4%
7Springfield, IL55,735-0.5%
8Peoria, IL54,184+0.5%
9Waukegan, IL48,268+0.8%
10Champaign, IL44,630+1.4%
11Bloomington, IL42,440-0.8%
12Schaumburg, IL41,827-0.7%
13Cicero, IL41,454-1.2%
14Bolingbrook, IL40,971-0.2%
15Arlington Heights, IL40,515-0.3%
16Evanston, IL39,389-0.6%
17Palatine, IL38,173-0.7%
18Decatur, IL32,780+0.6%
19Skokie, IL32,567-0.9%
20Des Plaines, IL31,694+1.3%
21Berwyn, IL30,316-1%
22Mount Prospect, IL29,964-0.7%
23Tinley Park, IL29,103-1%
24Oak Park, IL28,949+0.1%
25Orland Park, IL28,870-0.6%
26Hoffman Estates, IL28,506-0.6%
27Normal, IL28,387-0%
28Oak Lawn, IL28,318-1%
29Wheaton, IL27,521-0.6%
30Downers Grove, IL26,612-0.6%
31Lombard, IL25,077+1.6%
32Buffalo Grove, IL24,156+0.3%
33Bartlett, IL23,624-0.7%
34Glenview, IL23,280-0.6%
35Plainfield, IL23,153+0.6%
36Romeoville, IL22,935-0.2%
37Elmhurst, IL22,567-0.4%
38Carol Stream, IL22,113-1%
39Wheeling, IL22,069+1.2%
40Streamwood, IL21,963-1%
41Crystal Lake, IL21,889-0.4%
42Belleville, IL21,733-0.2%
43Moline, IL21,727+0.6%
44Carpentersville, IL21,447+0.7%
45DeKalb, IL21,241+0.5%
46Quincy, IL20,936+1.6%
47Urbana, IL20,738+0.4%
48Addison, IL20,133-0.8%
49Park Ridge, IL20,122-0.5%
50Hanover Park, IL19,260-1.1%
51Woodridge, IL19,129-0.4%
52St. Charles, IL19,111+2.4%
53Glendale Heights, IL18,716-1%
54Oswego, IL18,356+2.7%
55Rock Island, IL18,289+0.5%
56Mundelein, IL18,182+1.3%
57Gurnee, IL17,683+1.2%
58Elk Grove Village, IL17,499-1%
59Algonquin, IL17,414+0.1%
60Northbrook, IL16,970-0.5%
61Calumet City, IL16,942-1.9%
62Lake in the Hills, IL15,847-0.2%
63O'Fallon, IL15,609+1.5%
64Highland Park, IL15,334+1.3%
65Pekin, IL15,332-0.1%
66Round Lake Beach, IL15,285+1%
67McHenry, IL15,087+0.7%
68Oak Forest, IL14,993-1.2%
69Vernon Hills, IL14,822+3.3%
70Batavia, IL14,702+0.7%
71Lockport, IL14,532+0.5%
72Lansing, IL14,315-1.1%
73Niles, IL14,307-0.9%
74Burbank, IL14,115-0.9%
75Woodstock, IL14,073-0.2%
76Belvidere, IL14,046+1.2%
77New Lenox, IL13,974+1.1%
78Glen Ellyn, IL13,972-0.6%
79West Chicago, IL13,700-0.8%
80Collinsville, IL13,635-0.2%
81Edwardsville, IL13,361+0.4%
82Granite City, IL13,322-0.3%
83Zion, IL13,060+0.8%
84Alton, IL12,639-0.3%
85Galesburg, IL12,571-1.4%
86Melrose Park, IL12,534-1%
87Westmont, IL12,456-0.5%
88Morton Grove, IL12,420-0.7%
89Wilmette, IL12,416-0.2%
90Elmwood Park, IL12,319-1%
91Homer Glen, IL11,801-0.3%
92Huntley, IL11,708+1.3%
93Danville, IL11,650-1.8%
94Chicago Heights, IL11,581-2.3%
95Freeport, IL11,415+2.6%
96Kankakee, IL10,797+1.4%
97Park Forest, IL10,518-1.5%
98North Chicago, IL10,385+1.5%
99Carbondale, IL10,338-0.5%
100Maywood, IL9,919-1.8%
101Dolton, IL9,390-2.1%
102Harvey, IL8,729-1.9%
103East St. Louis, IL7,336-0.3%

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 2018 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

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, 2018. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2018. 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, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2018.

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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_illinois_by_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2018. 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2018
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.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/illinois-cities?period=2018.
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.CurrentU15-19. 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 1.43 million in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

East St. Louis, IL, with 7,336 in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Illinois: more rankings