Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Illinois

Cities in Illinois by employed residents

Chicago, IL had the highest employed residents of 103 cities in 2019, at 1.38 million. East St. Louis, IL had the lowest, at 6,603. The median was 18,395. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,375,346Chicago, IL
Lowest6,603East St. Louis, IL
Median18,395103 cities

Top 40 cities, 2019

Chicago, IL: 1,375,346 personsChicago, IL1,375,346Aurora, IL: 94,458 personsAurora, IL94,458Naperville, IL: 75,082 personsNaperville, IL75,082Joliet, IL: 74,308 personsJoliet, IL74,308Rockford, IL: 65,710 personsRockford, IL65,710Elgin, IL: 57,750 personsElgin, IL57,750Springfield, IL: 52,469 personsSpringfield, IL52,469Peoria, IL: 50,720 personsPeoria, IL50,720Waukegan, IL: 45,778 personsWaukegan, IL45,778Champaign, IL: 43,857 personsChampaign, IL43,857Bloomington, IL: 40,546 personsBloomington, IL40,546Schaumburg, IL: 40,472 personsSchaumburg, IL40,472Cicero, IL: 39,832 personsCicero, IL39,832Bolingbrook, IL: 39,426 personsBolingbrook, IL39,426Arlington Heights, IL: 39,368 personsArlington Heights, IL39,368Evanston, IL: 38,097 personsEvanston, IL38,097Palatine, IL: 36,945 personsPalatine, IL36,945Skokie, IL: 31,476 personsSkokie, IL31,476Des Plaines, IL: 30,806 personsDes Plaines, IL30,806Decatur, IL: 30,151 personsDecatur, IL30,151Berwyn, IL: 29,141 personsBerwyn, IL29,141Mount Prospect, IL: 29,078 personsMount Prospect, IL29,078Oak Park, IL: 28,303 personsOak Park, IL28,303Tinley Park, IL: 28,123 personsTinley Park, IL28,123Orland Park, IL: 27,951 personsOrland Park, IL27,951Hoffman Estates, IL: 27,687 personsHoffman Estates, IL27,687Normal, IL: 27,231 personsNormal, IL27,231Oak Lawn, IL: 27,203 personsOak Lawn, IL27,203Wheaton, IL: 26,666 personsWheaton, IL26,666Downers Grove, IL: 25,855 personsDowners Grove, IL25,855Lombard, IL: 24,282 personsLombard, IL24,282Buffalo Grove, IL: 23,379 personsBuffalo Grove, IL23,379Bartlett, IL: 22,895 personsBartlett, IL22,895Glenview, IL: 22,839 personsGlenview, IL22,839Plainfield, IL: 22,669 personsPlainfield, IL22,669Romeoville, IL: 22,268 personsRomeoville, IL22,268Elmhurst, IL: 22,147 personsElmhurst, IL22,147Wheeling, IL: 21,396 personsWheeling, IL21,396Carol Stream, IL: 21,368 personsCarol Stream, IL21,368Crystal Lake, IL: 21,232 personsCrystal Lake, IL21,232Chicago, IL: 1,375,346 personsChicago, IL1,375,346Aurora, IL: 94,458 personsAurora, IL94,458Naperville, IL: 75,082 personsNaperville, IL75,082Joliet, IL: 74,308 personsJoliet, IL74,308Rockford, IL: 65,710 personsRockford, IL65,710Elgin, IL: 57,750 personsElgin, IL57,750Springfield, IL: 52,469 personsSpringfield, IL52,469Peoria, IL: 50,720 personsPeoria, IL50,720Waukegan, IL: 45,778 personsWaukegan, IL45,778Champaign, IL: 43,857 personsChampaign, IL43,857Bloomington, IL: 40,546 personsBloomington, IL40,546Schaumburg, IL: 40,472 personsSchaumburg, IL40,472Cicero, IL: 39,832 personsCicero, IL39,832Bolingbrook, IL: 39,426 personsBolingbrook, IL39,426Arlington Heights, IL: 39,368 personsArlington Heights, IL39,368Evanston, IL: 38,097 personsEvanston, IL38,097Palatine, IL: 36,945 personsPalatine, IL36,945Skokie, IL: 31,476 personsSkokie, IL31,476Des Plaines, IL: 30,806 personsDes Plaines, IL30,806Decatur, IL: 30,151 personsDecatur, IL30,151Berwyn, IL: 29,141 personsBerwyn, IL29,141Mount Prospect, IL: 29,078 personsMount Prospect, IL29,078Oak Park, IL: 28,303 personsOak Park, IL28,303Tinley Park, IL: 28,123 personsTinley Park, IL28,123Orland Park, IL: 27,951 personsOrland Park, IL27,951Hoffman Estates, IL: 27,687 personsHoffman Estates, IL27,687Normal, IL: 27,231 personsNormal, IL27,231Oak Lawn, IL: 27,203 personsOak Lawn, IL27,203Wheaton, IL: 26,666 personsWheaton, IL26,666Downers Grove, IL: 25,855 personsDowners Grove, IL25,855Lombard, IL: 24,282 personsLombard, IL24,282Buffalo Grove, IL: 23,379 personsBuffalo Grove, IL23,379Bartlett, IL: 22,895 personsBartlett, IL22,895Glenview, IL: 22,839 personsGlenview, IL22,839Plainfield, IL: 22,669 personsPlainfield, IL22,669Romeoville, IL: 22,268 personsRomeoville, IL22,268Elmhurst, IL: 22,147 personsElmhurst, IL22,147Wheeling, IL: 21,396 personsWheeling, IL21,396Carol Stream, IL: 21,368 personsCarol Stream, IL21,368Crystal Lake, IL: 21,232 personsCrystal Lake, IL21,232
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2019
persons		Change on 2018
1Chicago, IL1,375,346+0.5%
2Aurora, IL94,458-0.5%
3Naperville, IL75,082+0.9%
4Joliet, IL74,308+0.4%
5Rockford, IL65,710-1.2%
6Elgin, IL57,750-0.3%
7Springfield, IL52,469-1%
8Peoria, IL50,720-0.8%
9Waukegan, IL45,778+0.5%
10Champaign, IL43,857+2.7%
11Bloomington, IL40,546-0.4%
12Schaumburg, IL40,472+0.2%
13Cicero, IL39,8320%
14Bolingbrook, IL39,426-0%
15Arlington Heights, IL39,368+0.4%
16Evanston, IL38,097+0.2%
17Palatine, IL36,945+0.1%
18Skokie, IL31,476+0.1%
19Des Plaines, IL30,806+0.9%
20Decatur, IL30,151-1.9%
21Berwyn, IL29,141+0.1%
22Mount Prospect, IL29,078+0.1%
23Oak Park, IL28,303+1.2%
24Tinley Park, IL28,123+0.2%
25Orland Park, IL27,951+0.3%
26Hoffman Estates, IL27,687+0.5%
27Normal, IL27,231-0.1%
28Oak Lawn, IL27,203+0.1%
29Wheaton, IL26,6660%
30Downers Grove, IL25,855+0.2%
31Lombard, IL24,2820%
32Buffalo Grove, IL23,379+0.4%
33Bartlett, IL22,895+0.1%
34Glenview, IL22,839+1.1%
35Plainfield, IL22,669+1.2%
36Romeoville, IL22,268+1.1%
37Elmhurst, IL22,147+1.3%
38Wheeling, IL21,396+0.3%
39Carol Stream, IL21,368-0.1%
40Crystal Lake, IL21,232+0.3%
41Streamwood, IL21,072+0.1%
42Moline, IL20,648+0.2%
43Belleville, IL20,587-0%
44DeKalb, IL20,311+0.3%
45Urbana, IL20,019+0.9%
46Carpentersville, IL20,003-0.9%
47Quincy, IL19,891-1.2%
48Park Ridge, IL19,543+0.2%
49Addison, IL19,417+0.1%
50Woodridge, IL18,595+0.5%
51St. Charles, IL18,3970%
52Hanover Park, IL18,3950%
53Oswego, IL18,234+3.8%
54Glendale Heights, IL18,032-0.1%
55Mundelein, IL17,519+0.8%
56Rock Island, IL17,274-0%
57Gurnee, IL17,074+0.7%
58Algonquin, IL16,900+0.6%
59Elk Grove Village, IL16,885+0.1%
60Northbrook, IL16,519+0.4%
61Calumet City, IL15,9070%
62Lake in the Hills, IL15,313+0.3%
63O'Fallon, IL15,118+1.1%
64Highland Park, IL14,937+1%
65McHenry, IL14,698+0.9%
66Oak Forest, IL14,423+0.1%
67Vernon Hills, IL14,386+1%
68Pekin, IL14,367-0.7%
69Round Lake Beach, IL14,342+0.5%
70Lockport, IL14,220+1.4%
71Batavia, IL14,178+0.6%
72Niles, IL13,822+0.1%
73New Lenox, IL13,657+1.4%
74Woodstock, IL13,655+0.6%
75Lansing, IL13,586+0.1%
76Glen Ellyn, IL13,558+0.2%
77Burbank, IL13,540+0.1%
78West Chicago, IL13,140-0.1%
79Edwardsville, IL13,134+2.2%
80Collinsville, IL13,088+0.5%
81Belvidere, IL13,085-1%
82Granite City, IL12,678+0.3%
83Zion, IL12,383+0.5%
84Morton Grove, IL12,082+0.4%
85Wilmette, IL12,078+0.3%
86Melrose Park, IL12,038+0.1%
87Westmont, IL12,0190%
88Alton, IL11,948+0.2%
89Elmwood Park, IL11,865+0.3%
90Galesburg, IL11,695-1.4%
91Homer Glen, IL11,400+0.4%
92Huntley, IL11,281+0.2%
93Chicago Heights, IL10,820-0%
94Danville, IL10,767-0.4%
95Freeport, IL10,670-1.2%
96Kankakee, IL10,114+1.5%
97Park Forest, IL9,899-0%
98Carbondale, IL9,889+0.6%
99North Chicago, IL9,873+0.6%
100Maywood, IL9,267+0.1%
101Dolton, IL8,6640%
102Harvey, IL8,096-0.1%
103East St. Louis, IL6,603-0.8%

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 2019 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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_illinois_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/illinois-cities?period=2019.
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 1.38 million in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

East St. Louis, IL, with 6,603 in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Illinois: more rankings