IL · Cook County · 2,746,388 (2020) · 3rd-largest US city · Central time
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago lies on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan in northeast Illinois. It is the third-largest city in the United States and the largest in the Midwest.
- State
- Illinois
- County
- Cook County (small part in DuPage)
- Population (2020)
- 2,746,388
- Rank
- 3rd in the US
- Coordinates
- 41.88°N, 87.63°W
- Time zone
- Central
- Metro area
- about 9.6 million
- State capital
- No – Springfield
Where Chicago is
Chicago is at 41.88°N, 87.63°W in Cook County, Illinois, with a small portion at O'Hare Airport extending into DuPage County. The city stretches 26 miles along the Lake Michigan shore and covers 234 square miles of flat lakebed plain about 595 feet above sea level. The Indiana state line is 10 miles southeast of downtown; Wisconsin is 45 miles north. The state capital, Springfield, is 200 miles southwest. Chicago's central position on the lake and on the low divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins made it the country's principal railway hub, and it remains the point where the eastern and western rail networks meet.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 2,746,388 residents, up slightly from 2010 and ranking 3rd among US cities behind New York and Los Angeles. Houston, in 4th place, is about 440,000 behind. The Chicago–Naperville–Elgin metropolitan area covers 14 counties in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin and holds about 9.6 million people, the third-largest metro in the country. Cook County alone has about 5.3 million, the second most populous county in the US after Los Angeles County.
Geography
- Lake Michigan — the city's eastern boundary; the lakefront is almost entirely public parkland and beaches for 26 miles. See the Great Lakes map.
- Chicago River — reversed in 1900 so that it flows away from the lake into the Sanitary and Ship Canal, linking the lake to the Illinois River and the Mississippi.
- Calumet River — the industrial waterway on the far South Side leading to the Port of Chicago.
- Terrain — the flat bed of glacial Lake Chicago; the highest natural point in the city is only about 670 feet, on the far South Side.
Nearest large cities
Milwaukee is 90 minutes north along the lake; Indianapolis and Detroit are each about three to four hours. Distances are approximate road miles from the Loop.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | WI | 90 | N |
| Indianapolis | IN | 180 | SE |
| Detroit | MI | 280 | E |
| Minneapolis | MN | 410 | NW |
| Columbus | OH | 355 | SE |
Is Chicago the state capital?
No. Illinois's capital is Springfield, 200 miles southwest in the centre of the state; the capital was moved there from Vandalia in 1839, when Chicago was still a town of a few thousand people. Chicago is the seat of Cook County. It holds more than a fifth of the state's population and is more than 20 times the size of Aurora, the second-largest city in Illinois.
Related maps
- Illinois map — the state with its 102 counties.
- Springfield — the state capital.
- US cities map.
- Great Lakes map and Great Lakes region.
- Nearby cities: Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit.
- Midwest · Central Time Zone.