Welcome to Bloomington ...
The city of Bloomington is located in McLean County<1> and is the County Seat for McLean County.
The pronunciation of Bloomington: BLOOM-ing-tuhn<2>
Bloomington was established in 1822.
When the people of Bloomington refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Bloomingtonian<3>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Bloomington has a population of 77,174 people<4> (see below for details).
The community of Bloomington is 830 feet [253 m] above sea level.<5>.
Time Zone: Bloomington lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
The area code for Bloomington: (309)
The ZIP codes for Bloomington: 61701-61702, 61704, 61709-61710, 61791, 61799<6>
Websites for Bloomington ...
Official Website: www.cityhall.ci.bloomington.il.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.mcleancochamber.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Bloomington had an population of 77,174 people. This is an increase of 0.74% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 19.08% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Bloomington had a population of 76,610 people (which is 45.18% of the total population of McLean County). This makes Bloomington the county's most populous community.
The population of Bloomington represents 0.6% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 12th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 76,610 people, the population of Bloomington increased 18.21% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 64,808 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Bloomington.
Communities Also Named Bloomington ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 33 communities that are also named Bloomington - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (5), Kentucky (2), Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario (2), Pennsylvania (2), South Dakota, Tennessee (2), Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bloomington.
Communities near Bloomington ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bloomington.
- Le Roy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Le Roy have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Roy
- Le Roy is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,498 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Le Roy <8>
- Heyworth
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heyworth have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heyworth
- Heyworth is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,869 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heyworth <8>
- El Paso
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Paso have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Paso
- El Paso is located in Woodford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,700 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for El Paso <8>
- Lexington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lexington have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
- Lexington is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,020 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lexington <8>
- Mackinaw
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackinaw
- Mackinaw is located in Tazewell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,861 people
- Former name for Mackinaw:
- Mackinawtown
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mackinaw <8>
- Hudson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hudson have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Hudson is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,810 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <8>
- Atlanta
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Atlanta is located in Logan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,582 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atlanta <8>
- Gridley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gridley have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gridley
- Gridley is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,392 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gridley <8>
- Minier
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minier
- Minier is located in Tazewell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,180 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minier <8>
- Danvers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Danvers have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers
- Danvers is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,093 people
- Danvers has also been known as:
- Danver
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danvers <8>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bloomington. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bloomington.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bloomington. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bloomington.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bloomington. Our list includes 93 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Bloomington.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bloomington ...
Looking for more information about Bloomington? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Bloomington, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Bloomington.
Adding Bloomington to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Bloomington in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Bloomington was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
From that list, the Bloomington post office opened in 1831.
We also found Bloomington in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Bloomington.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Bloomington: www.cityhall.ci.bloomington.il.us/
The official website for McLean County: www.mclean.gov/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including McLean, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Bloomington. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page. |
| <3> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Bloomington refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Bloomington may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <4> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Bloomington. |
| <5> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bloomington - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Bloomington). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Bloomington or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Bloomington includes: 61701, 61704, 61709, 61791 & 61799. |
| <7> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <8> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |