Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Illinois

Cities in Illinois by employed residents

Chicago, IL had the highest employed residents of 103 cities in 2016, at 1.35 million. East St. Louis, IL had the lowest, at 6,750. The median was 18,032. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,354,607Chicago, IL
Lowest6,750East St. Louis, IL
Median18,032103 cities

Top 40 cities, 2016

Chicago, IL: 1,354,607 personsChicago, IL1,354,607Aurora, IL: 94,593 personsAurora, IL94,593Joliet, IL: 73,210 personsJoliet, IL73,210Naperville, IL: 73,027 personsNaperville, IL73,027Rockford, IL: 65,943 personsRockford, IL65,943Elgin, IL: 57,639 personsElgin, IL57,639Springfield, IL: 54,196 personsSpringfield, IL54,196Peoria, IL: 51,465 personsPeoria, IL51,465Waukegan, IL: 45,133 personsWaukegan, IL45,133Champaign, IL: 41,883 personsChampaign, IL41,883Bloomington, IL: 41,308 personsBloomington, IL41,308Schaumburg, IL: 40,386 personsSchaumburg, IL40,386Cicero, IL: 40,013 personsCicero, IL40,013Arlington Heights, IL: 38,967 personsArlington Heights, IL38,967Bolingbrook, IL: 38,664 personsBolingbrook, IL38,664Evanston, IL: 38,050 personsEvanston, IL38,050Palatine, IL: 36,869 personsPalatine, IL36,869Skokie, IL: 31,532 personsSkokie, IL31,532Decatur, IL: 30,841 personsDecatur, IL30,841Des Plaines, IL: 29,859 personsDes Plaines, IL29,859Berwyn, IL: 29,252 personsBerwyn, IL29,252Mount Prospect, IL: 29,121 personsMount Prospect, IL29,121Tinley Park, IL: 28,059 personsTinley Park, IL28,059Orland Park, IL: 27,795 personsOrland Park, IL27,795Hoffman Estates, IL: 27,503 personsHoffman Estates, IL27,503Oak Park, IL: 27,486 personsOak Park, IL27,486Normal, IL: 27,347 personsNormal, IL27,347Oak Lawn, IL: 27,224 personsOak Lawn, IL27,224Wheaton, IL: 26,505 personsWheaton, IL26,505Downers Grove, IL: 25,621 personsDowners Grove, IL25,621Lombard, IL: 23,649 personsLombard, IL23,649Buffalo Grove, IL: 23,090 personsBuffalo Grove, IL23,090Bartlett, IL: 22,801 personsBartlett, IL22,801Glenview, IL: 22,470 personsGlenview, IL22,470Romeoville, IL: 21,871 personsRomeoville, IL21,871Elmhurst, IL: 21,595 personsElmhurst, IL21,595Plainfield, IL: 21,590 personsPlainfield, IL21,590Carol Stream, IL: 21,328 personsCarol Stream, IL21,328Streamwood, IL: 21,106 personsStreamwood, IL21,106Crystal Lake, IL: 20,994 personsCrystal Lake, IL20,994Chicago, IL: 1,354,607 personsChicago, IL1,354,607Aurora, IL: 94,593 personsAurora, IL94,593Joliet, IL: 73,210 personsJoliet, IL73,210Naperville, IL: 73,027 personsNaperville, IL73,027Rockford, IL: 65,943 personsRockford, IL65,943Elgin, IL: 57,639 personsElgin, IL57,639Springfield, IL: 54,196 personsSpringfield, IL54,196Peoria, IL: 51,465 personsPeoria, IL51,465Waukegan, IL: 45,133 personsWaukegan, IL45,133Champaign, IL: 41,883 personsChampaign, IL41,883Bloomington, IL: 41,308 personsBloomington, IL41,308Schaumburg, IL: 40,386 personsSchaumburg, IL40,386Cicero, IL: 40,013 personsCicero, IL40,013Arlington Heights, IL: 38,967 personsArlington Heights, IL38,967Bolingbrook, IL: 38,664 personsBolingbrook, IL38,664Evanston, IL: 38,050 personsEvanston, IL38,050Palatine, IL: 36,869 personsPalatine, IL36,869Skokie, IL: 31,532 personsSkokie, IL31,532Decatur, IL: 30,841 personsDecatur, IL30,841Des Plaines, IL: 29,859 personsDes Plaines, IL29,859Berwyn, IL: 29,252 personsBerwyn, IL29,252Mount Prospect, IL: 29,121 personsMount Prospect, IL29,121Tinley Park, IL: 28,059 personsTinley Park, IL28,059Orland Park, IL: 27,795 personsOrland Park, IL27,795Hoffman Estates, IL: 27,503 personsHoffman Estates, IL27,503Oak Park, IL: 27,486 personsOak Park, IL27,486Normal, IL: 27,347 personsNormal, IL27,347Oak Lawn, IL: 27,224 personsOak Lawn, IL27,224Wheaton, IL: 26,505 personsWheaton, IL26,505Downers Grove, IL: 25,621 personsDowners Grove, IL25,621Lombard, IL: 23,649 personsLombard, IL23,649Buffalo Grove, IL: 23,090 personsBuffalo Grove, IL23,090Bartlett, IL: 22,801 personsBartlett, IL22,801Glenview, IL: 22,470 personsGlenview, IL22,470Romeoville, IL: 21,871 personsRomeoville, IL21,871Elmhurst, IL: 21,595 personsElmhurst, IL21,595Plainfield, IL: 21,590 personsPlainfield, IL21,590Carol Stream, IL: 21,328 personsCarol Stream, IL21,328Streamwood, IL: 21,106 personsStreamwood, IL21,106Crystal Lake, IL: 20,994 personsCrystal Lake, IL20,994
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2016
persons		Change on 2015
1Chicago, IL1,354,607+5.3%
2Aurora, IL94,593-2.3%
3Joliet, IL73,210+4.7%
4Naperville, IL73,027-2.8%
5Rockford, IL65,943+6.1%
6Elgin, IL57,639+7.2%
7Springfield, IL54,196-2.5%
8Peoria, IL51,465+1.8%
9Waukegan, IL45,133+8.6%
10Champaign, IL41,883-0.7%
11Bloomington, IL41,308+4.9%
12Schaumburg, IL40,386-4.9%
13Cicero, IL40,013+14.8%
14Arlington Heights, IL38,967-1.7%
15Bolingbrook, IL38,664+1%
16Evanston, IL38,050+0.3%
17Palatine, IL36,869-2.8%
18Skokie, IL31,532-0.2%
19Decatur, IL30,841+0.2%
20Des Plaines, IL29,859-4.4%
21Berwyn, IL29,252+11.6%
22Mount Prospect, IL29,121+2.2%
23Tinley Park, IL28,059-9%
24Orland Park, IL27,795-4.2%
25Hoffman Estates, IL27,503-5.1%
26Oak Park, IL27,486-3.4%
27Normal, IL27,347-1.5%
28Oak Lawn, IL27,224-0.4%
29Wheaton, IL26,505-5.2%
30Downers Grove, IL25,621-3%
31Lombard, IL23,649-2.1%
32Buffalo Grove, IL23,090-1.3%
33Bartlett, IL22,801+1.5%
34Glenview, IL22,470+1%
35Romeoville, IL21,871+16.3%
36Elmhurst, IL21,595-3.7%
37Plainfield, IL21,590+2.2%
38Carol Stream, IL21,328-7.4%
39Streamwood, IL21,106-6.5%
40Crystal Lake, IL20,994-3.2%
41Wheeling, IL20,800-3.6%
42Moline, IL20,653-0.8%
43Belleville, IL20,650-0.7%
44Carpentersville, IL20,244+13%
45DeKalb, IL20,176-4.5%
46Urbana, IL19,892-3.4%
47Quincy, IL19,692+7.2%
48Park Ridge, IL19,415+3.1%
49Addison, IL19,357+4.2%
50Hanover Park, IL18,400-6.6%
51Woodridge, IL18,281-5.6%
52Glendale Heights, IL18,032-2.4%
53St. Charles, IL18,029+2.3%
54Rock Island, IL17,379+0.4%
55Mundelein, IL17,080-0.7%
56Elk Grove Village, IL16,915-8.3%
57Oswego, IL16,888-4.4%
58Gurnee, IL16,722+2.2%
59Algonquin, IL16,618+1.7%
60Northbrook, IL16,392+4.4%
61Calumet City, IL15,963+5.6%
62Lake in the Hills, IL15,089-2.6%
63O'Fallon, IL14,629+12.9%
64Pekin, IL14,519-0.6%
65Highland Park, IL14,467+0.5%
66Oak Forest, IL14,448-0.2%
67McHenry, IL14,205+5.7%
68Round Lake Beach, IL14,129+2.3%
69Batavia, IL13,995+6.4%
70Niles, IL13,835+4%
71Vernon Hills, IL13,737-3.8%
72Lockport, IL13,720+4.1%
73Lansing, IL13,618+0.3%
74Burbank, IL13,532-0.1%
75Glen Ellyn, IL13,482-1.8%
76Woodstock, IL13,356+8.3%
77West Chicago, IL13,132-4%
78Belvidere, IL13,054+20.5%
79New Lenox, IL13,003-4.7%
80Collinsville, IL12,936+7.1%
81Edwardsville, IL12,760+1.1%
82Granite City, IL12,652+2.7%
83Galesburg, IL12,558+3.1%
84Zion, IL12,201+18.5%
85Melrose Park, IL12,077+6.5%
86Morton Grove, IL12,026+7.6%
87Westmont, IL11,973-7.5%
88Alton, IL11,934+11.7%
89Wilmette, IL11,901-4.2%
90Elmwood Park, IL11,877-8.2%
91Danville, IL11,189-7.5%
92Homer Glen, IL11,176-10.3%
93Chicago Heights, IL10,884-9.4%
94Huntley, IL10,761+1.6%
95Freeport, IL10,298+5%
96Carbondale, IL10,125-9.9%
97Park Forest, IL9,939+4.7%
98Kankakee, IL9,760-2.8%
99North Chicago, IL9,592+17.2%
100Maywood, IL9,307-0.7%
101Dolton, IL8,705-11.3%
102Harvey, IL8,169+9.3%
103East St. Louis, IL6,750-16.6%

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 2016 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.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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 2016) [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: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 2016. 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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2016. 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, 2016. 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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2016.

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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_illinois_by_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2016. 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.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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Illinois by employed residents, 2016
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/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2016.
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.CurrentU15-19. 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 1.35 million in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

East St. Louis, IL, with 6,750 in 2016.

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 2016 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Illinois: more rankings