Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Illinois

Cities in Illinois by employed residents

Chicago, IL had the highest employed residents of 103 cities in 2014, at 1.27 million. Harvey, IL had the lowest, at 7,413. The median was 18,247. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,268,659Chicago, IL
Lowest7,413Harvey, IL
Median18,247103 cities

Top 40 cities, 2014

Chicago, IL: 1,268,659 personsChicago, IL1,268,659Aurora, IL: 95,239 personsAurora, IL95,239Naperville, IL: 73,516 personsNaperville, IL73,516Joliet, IL: 68,869 personsJoliet, IL68,869Rockford, IL: 61,191 personsRockford, IL61,191Springfield, IL: 54,596 personsSpringfield, IL54,596Elgin, IL: 52,464 personsElgin, IL52,464Peoria, IL: 50,964 personsPeoria, IL50,964Schaumburg, IL: 41,946 personsSchaumburg, IL41,946Champaign, IL: 41,200 personsChampaign, IL41,200Waukegan, IL: 40,967 personsWaukegan, IL40,967Arlington Heights, IL: 39,094 personsArlington Heights, IL39,094Bloomington, IL: 39,049 personsBloomington, IL39,049Bolingbrook, IL: 37,637 personsBolingbrook, IL37,637Evanston, IL: 37,449 personsEvanston, IL37,449Palatine, IL: 37,413 personsPalatine, IL37,413Cicero, IL: 34,552 personsCicero, IL34,552Skokie, IL: 31,283 personsSkokie, IL31,283Des Plaines, IL: 30,931 personsDes Plaines, IL30,931Tinley Park, IL: 30,454 personsTinley Park, IL30,454Decatur, IL: 30,407 personsDecatur, IL30,407Hoffman Estates, IL: 28,670 personsHoffman Estates, IL28,670Orland Park, IL: 28,603 personsOrland Park, IL28,603Mount Prospect, IL: 28,179 personsMount Prospect, IL28,179Oak Park, IL: 27,887 personsOak Park, IL27,887Wheaton, IL: 27,512 personsWheaton, IL27,512Normal, IL: 27,491 personsNormal, IL27,491Oak Lawn, IL: 27,059 personsOak Lawn, IL27,059Downers Grove, IL: 26,023 personsDowners Grove, IL26,023Berwyn, IL: 25,977 personsBerwyn, IL25,977Lombard, IL: 23,844 personsLombard, IL23,844Buffalo Grove, IL: 23,084 personsBuffalo Grove, IL23,084Carol Stream, IL: 22,698 personsCarol Stream, IL22,698Bartlett, IL: 22,183 personsBartlett, IL22,183Streamwood, IL: 22,132 personsStreamwood, IL22,132Elmhurst, IL: 22,000 personsElmhurst, IL22,000Glenview, IL: 21,616 personsGlenview, IL21,616Crystal Lake, IL: 21,401 personsCrystal Lake, IL21,401Wheeling, IL: 21,220 personsWheeling, IL21,220DeKalb, IL: 21,219 personsDeKalb, IL21,219Chicago, IL: 1,268,659 personsChicago, IL1,268,659Aurora, IL: 95,239 personsAurora, IL95,239Naperville, IL: 73,516 personsNaperville, IL73,516Joliet, IL: 68,869 personsJoliet, IL68,869Rockford, IL: 61,191 personsRockford, IL61,191Springfield, IL: 54,596 personsSpringfield, IL54,596Elgin, IL: 52,464 personsElgin, IL52,464Peoria, IL: 50,964 personsPeoria, IL50,964Schaumburg, IL: 41,946 personsSchaumburg, IL41,946Champaign, IL: 41,200 personsChampaign, IL41,200Waukegan, IL: 40,967 personsWaukegan, IL40,967Arlington Heights, IL: 39,094 personsArlington Heights, IL39,094Bloomington, IL: 39,049 personsBloomington, IL39,049Bolingbrook, IL: 37,637 personsBolingbrook, IL37,637Evanston, IL: 37,449 personsEvanston, IL37,449Palatine, IL: 37,413 personsPalatine, IL37,413Cicero, IL: 34,552 personsCicero, IL34,552Skokie, IL: 31,283 personsSkokie, IL31,283Des Plaines, IL: 30,931 personsDes Plaines, IL30,931Tinley Park, IL: 30,454 personsTinley Park, IL30,454Decatur, IL: 30,407 personsDecatur, IL30,407Hoffman Estates, IL: 28,670 personsHoffman Estates, IL28,670Orland Park, IL: 28,603 personsOrland Park, IL28,603Mount Prospect, IL: 28,179 personsMount Prospect, IL28,179Oak Park, IL: 27,887 personsOak Park, IL27,887Wheaton, IL: 27,512 personsWheaton, IL27,512Normal, IL: 27,491 personsNormal, IL27,491Oak Lawn, IL: 27,059 personsOak Lawn, IL27,059Downers Grove, IL: 26,023 personsDowners Grove, IL26,023Berwyn, IL: 25,977 personsBerwyn, IL25,977Lombard, IL: 23,844 personsLombard, IL23,844Buffalo Grove, IL: 23,084 personsBuffalo Grove, IL23,084Carol Stream, IL: 22,698 personsCarol Stream, IL22,698Bartlett, IL: 22,183 personsBartlett, IL22,183Streamwood, IL: 22,132 personsStreamwood, IL22,132Elmhurst, IL: 22,000 personsElmhurst, IL22,000Glenview, IL: 21,616 personsGlenview, IL21,616Crystal Lake, IL: 21,401 personsCrystal Lake, IL21,401Wheeling, IL: 21,220 personsWheeling, IL21,220DeKalb, IL: 21,219 personsDeKalb, IL21,219
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
persons		Change on 2013
1Chicago, IL1,268,659+1.7%
2Aurora, IL95,239+1.8%
3Naperville, IL73,516+2.5%
4Joliet, IL68,869+1.7%
5Rockford, IL61,191+1.7%
6Springfield, IL54,596+2.2%
7Elgin, IL52,464+2.4%
8Peoria, IL50,964+0.1%
9Schaumburg, IL41,946+1.6%
10Champaign, IL41,200+2.4%
11Waukegan, IL40,967+1.7%
12Arlington Heights, IL39,094+1.7%
13Bloomington, IL39,049-0.3%
14Bolingbrook, IL37,637+2%
15Evanston, IL37,449+1.7%
16Palatine, IL37,413+1.7%
17Cicero, IL34,552+1.9%
18Skokie, IL31,283+1.5%
19Des Plaines, IL30,931+1.7%
20Tinley Park, IL30,454+1.6%
21Decatur, IL30,407-0.1%
22Hoffman Estates, IL28,670+1.5%
23Orland Park, IL28,603+1.7%
24Mount Prospect, IL28,179+2%
25Oak Park, IL27,887+1.5%
26Wheaton, IL27,512+1.6%
27Normal, IL27,491-0.2%
28Oak Lawn, IL27,059+1.5%
29Downers Grove, IL26,023+1.7%
30Berwyn, IL25,977+1.5%
31Lombard, IL23,844+1.6%
32Buffalo Grove, IL23,084+1.4%
33Carol Stream, IL22,698+1.5%
34Bartlett, IL22,183+1.5%
35Streamwood, IL22,132+1.6%
36Elmhurst, IL22,000+2%
37Glenview, IL21,616+4.6%
38Crystal Lake, IL21,401+1.9%
39Wheeling, IL21,220+1.6%
40DeKalb, IL21,219+2%
41Moline, IL20,702-0.1%
42Belleville, IL20,639+0.8%
43Plainfield, IL20,620+2.6%
44Urbana, IL20,360+1.8%
45Hanover Park, IL19,489+1.5%
46Woodridge, IL19,079+1.5%
47Park Ridge, IL18,613+1.7%
48Romeoville, IL18,549+1.7%
49Quincy, IL18,363+0.6%
50Addison, IL18,350+1.4%
51Elk Grove Village, IL18,255+1.5%
52Glendale Heights, IL18,247+1.3%
53Carpentersville, IL17,595+1.9%
54St. Charles, IL17,318+1.9%
55Rock Island, IL17,245+0.3%
56Oswego, IL17,037+4.6%
57Mundelein, IL16,861+2.2%
58Gurnee, IL16,128+1.4%
59Algonquin, IL16,009+1.4%
60Northbrook, IL15,474+1.8%
61Lake in the Hills, IL15,196+1.5%
62Calumet City, IL14,963+1.5%
63Pekin, IL14,860-0.1%
64Oak Forest, IL14,310+1.5%
65Highland Park, IL14,181+1.5%
66Vernon Hills, IL13,780+2.8%
67Round Lake Beach, IL13,616+1.3%
68West Chicago, IL13,502+1.4%
69Lansing, IL13,466+1.7%
70Burbank, IL13,381+1.6%
71Glen Ellyn, IL13,317+1.6%
72McHenry, IL13,229+1.5%
73New Lenox, IL13,227+3.6%
74Niles, IL13,157+1.5%
75Lockport, IL12,951+1.8%
76Batavia, IL12,918+1.7%
77Elmwood Park, IL12,806+1.5%
78Westmont, IL12,765+1.6%
79O'Fallon, IL12,743+1.4%
80Edwardsville, IL12,269+2.1%
81Galesburg, IL12,265+1.8%
82Homer Glen, IL12,253+1.9%
82Wilmette, IL12,253+1.9%
84Woodstock, IL12,151+1.8%
85Granite City, IL12,137+1%
86Danville, IL11,956+1.3%
87Collinsville, IL11,910+0.9%
88Chicago Heights, IL11,895+1.7%
89Melrose Park, IL11,234+1.6%
90Morton Grove, IL11,036+1.6%
91Carbondale, IL10,970+1.6%
92Belvidere, IL10,674+2.2%
93Alton, IL10,547+1.2%
94Huntley, IL10,288+2.8%
95Zion, IL10,152+1.3%
96Freeport, IL10,0300%
97Kankakee, IL10,025+1.9%
98Dolton, IL9,721+1.5%
99Park Forest, IL9,389+1.5%
100Maywood, IL9,277+1.5%
101North Chicago, IL8,379+3.3%
102East St. Louis, IL7,902+1.9%
103Harvey, IL7,413+1.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, 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, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. 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: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 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: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2014. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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 employed residents using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Chicago, IL, with 1.27 million in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Harvey, IL, with 7,413 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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Illinois: more rankings