Welcome to Chicago ...

The city of Chicago is primarily located in Cook County<1> and is the County Seat for Cook County. A portion of Chicago extends into DuPage County.

The pronunciation of Chicago: shi-KAW-goh<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Chicago, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1846.

The city was incorporated March 4, 1837.

When the people of Chicago refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Chicagoan<3>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Chicago has a population of 2,691,497 people<4> (see below for details).

Chicago is 590 feet [180 m] above sea level.<5>.

Time Zone: Chicago lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Chicago (for example, toward New Carlisle (IN)), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Chicago is served by one (or more) of the following area codes: (312), (773) and (872).

The ZIP codes for Chicago: 60601-60626, 60628-60634, 60636-60641, 60643-60647, 60649, 60651-60657, 60659-60661, 60663-60665, 60667-60675, 60677-60681, 60683-60685, 60687, 60690-60691, 60693-60694, 60697, 60699, 60701<6>

Websites for Chicago ...

Official Website:   www.cityofchicago.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.chicagolandchamber.org/

Junior League:   www.jlchicago.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Chicago had an population of 2,691,497 people. This is a decrease of 0.15% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 7.06% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Chicago had a population of 2,695,598 people (or 51.89% of the total population of Cook County). This makes Chicago the county's most populous community.

The population of Chicago represents 21.01% of the total population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,695,598 people, the population of Chicago decreased 6.92% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 2,896,016 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Chicago.

Communities Also Named Chicago ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 9 communities that are also named Chicago - they are located in California, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Chicago.

Communities near Chicago ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Chicago.

• Cicero
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cicero have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cicero
  • Cicero is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 79,727 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Cicero
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cicero <8>
• Evanston
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evanston
  • Evanston is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 72,683 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Evanston
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evanston <8>
• Skokie
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skokie have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skokie
  • Skokie is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,404 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Skokie
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skokie <8>
• Des Plaines
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Des Plaines have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Des Plaines
  • Des Plaines is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,179 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Des Plaines
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Des Plaines <8>
• Oak Lawn
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Lawn have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Lawn
  • Oak Lawn is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,376 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Oak Lawn
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Lawn <8>
• Berwyn
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
  • Berwyn is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,701 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Berwyn
• Oak Park
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
  • Oak Park is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,852 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Oak Park
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Park <8>
• Downers Grove
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downers Grove
  • Downers Grove is located in DuPage County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 48,727 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Downers Grove
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Downers Grove <8>
• Glenview
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Glenview is located in Cook County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,823 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Glenview
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenview <8>
• Elmhurst
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmhurst have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmhurst
  • Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,532 people
  • Jump to a Google Map centered on Elmhurst
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmhurst <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 Chicago. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Chicago.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Chicago. 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 Chicago.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Chicago. Our list includes 1,504 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Chicago.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Chicago ...

Looking for more information about Chicago? 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 Chicago, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Chicago.

Adding Chicago to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Chicago 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 Chicago was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

We also found Chicago in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Chicago.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Chicago: www.cityofchicago.org/

The official website for Cook County: www.co.cook.il.us/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov