City · Lake County, Illinois

North Chicago, Illinois

North Chicago is a city in Lake County, Illinois, part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area. It has 30,643 residents. North Chicago, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 55 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,007 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #278 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on dentists (high), average weekly wage (high) and suicide rate (low). It ranks worst on food insecurity (high), poverty rate (high) and high ozone days (high).

55Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,007 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #278 of 697 in IL
Population: 30,643 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 3,832.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 1753559

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety91#1,374/15,637
Economy19#12,628/15,631
Housing44#8,352/14,977
Health66#5,323/15,609
Healthcare69#4,799/15,650
Environment40#9,237/15,453
Education34#10,360/15,649
Infrastructure40#9,381/15,650
Community63#5,858/15,651
Leisure & amenities69#4,816/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where North Chicago, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lake County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Dentists · high119 /100k
96/100Illinois 86 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Average weekly wage · high$1,783
96/100Illinois $1,539United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLake County value
Suicide rate · low7.2 /100k
95/100Illinois 11.7 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLake County value
Flu vaccinations · high55.0%
93/100Illinois 48.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high98.2%
93/100Illinois 90.6%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Average commute time · low16.8 min
92/100Illinois 27.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Food insecurity · high31.2%
7/100Illinois 16.5%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Poverty rate · high24.5%
9/100Illinois 11.5%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
High ozone days · high8 days
10/100Illinois 5 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLake County value
Unemployment rate · high9.9%
10/100Illinois 4.6%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Poor or fair health · high27.8%
10/100Illinois 18.9%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Lack of reliable transportation · high14.3%
10/100Illinois 8.4%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
0.1 /1k (2021) → 0.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+200%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
26.6% (2015-2019) → 35.9% (2020-2024)
+9.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
60.3% (2015-2019) → 51.7% (2020-2024)
−8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$43,094 (2015-2019) → $60,172 (2020-2024)
+40%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
34.7% (2015-2019) → 31.3% (2020-2024)
−3.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Poverty rateWorsening
21.2% (2015-2019) → 24.5% (2020-2024)
+3.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, North Chicago, Illinois improved on 2 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+40%$43,094 → $60,172
Broadband+3.1 points83.6% → 86.7%

Declined2

Child poverty+9.3 points26.6% → 35.9%
Transit use−1.3 points2.1% → 0.8%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of North Chicago, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.7 min2015-2019	16.8 min2020-2024	−0.9 min	Within the margin of error	58%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.0%2015-2019	20.8%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Broadband subscriptions	83.6%2015-2019	86.7%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Improved	21%
Child poverty rate	26.6%2015-2019	35.9%2020-2024	+9.3 points	Declined	13%
Effective property tax rate	2.77%2015-2019	1.85%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	99%
High school diploma or higher	80.0%2015-2019	81.2%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	72%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4542015-2019	0.4522020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	53%
Median household income	$43,0942015-2019	$60,1722020-2024	+40%	Improved	73%
Poverty rate	21.2%2015-2019	24.5%2020-2024	+3.3 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Public transit commuters	2.1%2015-2019	0.8%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Declined	16%
Rent as share of income	34.7%2015-2019	31.3%2020-2024	−3.4 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Rent-burdened households	60.3%2015-2019	51.7%2020-2024	−8.6 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Unemployment rate	7.2%2015-2019	9.9%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.7%2015-2019	14.4%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like North Chicago, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of North Chicago, Illinois in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, North Chicago, Illinois itself moved +3.3 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

30,643 residents (±262)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

7,036 households (±401)

North Chicago, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k26%1,844
$25k–50k20%1,389
$50k–75k14%978

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

7,036 households (±401)

North Chicago, Illinois
Illinois share

Own33%2,292
Rent67%4,744

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

17,089 workers (±745)

North Chicago, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone41%6,967
Carpool9.2%1,566
Public transit0.8%†145

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Lake County, the county holding most of North Chicago's residents.

Lake County has 20,076 employer establishments, 281 for every 10,000 residents (1.13× the US rate of 248; 1.10× Illinois's), with 337,069 paid employees at an average annual pay of $92,708. The Census Bureau also counts 65,725 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 20,076; 65,725 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 281; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 337,069
Average annual pay: $92,708; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Lake County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,762	24.7	1.18×About typical	14,590	$77,394	2,982
Specialty trade contractors	1,285	18	1.16×About typical	9,755	$92,020	3,265
Restaurants and other eating places	1,273	17.8	0.97×About typical	21,863	$24,885	212
Services to buildings and dwellings	1,004	14.1	2.09×More than typical	10,835	$49,556	2,742
Lessors of real estate	811	11.4	0.92×About typical	2,892	$76,077	6,595
Management, scientific and technical consulting	714	10	1.49×More than typical	9,537	$119,895	3,308
Landscaping services	706	9.9	2.82×More than typical	4,022	$84,735	778
Truck transportation	673	9.4	1.86×More than typical	1,999	$57,838	2,737
Construction of buildings	659	9.2	1.22×About typical	2,123	$76,280	2,045
Computer systems design and related services	583	8.2	1.89×More than typical	6,950	$103,702	972
Offices of other health practitioners	579	8.1	1.34×More than typical	2,381	$49,600	1,449
Limited-service restaurants	574	8	1.00×About typical	10,558	$21,454	77

Rank places for an industry Open Lake County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 713,653 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $311.7M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in North Chicago, Illinois: $10,173 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $311.7M; −23% vs FY2025
Per resident: $10,173; US $1,994
Sole-source: 52%; US 30%
Single offer: 9.5%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$132.2M42%
Department of the Navy$129.1M41%
Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response$20M6.4%
Department of the Army$17.9M5.7%
Defense Health Agency$6.6M2.1%
Defense Logistics Agency$3.2M1.0%
National Institutes of Health$1.3M0.4%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$626.4K0.2%

Top recipients

GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN, INC.$102.2M33%
ABBOTT LABORATORIES INC.$57.8M19%
ABBOTT LABORATORIES$20.1M6.4%
NORESCO, LLC$19.9M6.4%
CHENEGA TRI-SERVICES, LLC$16.1M5.2%

Spending by fiscal year

213.2MFY2017
279MFY2018
244.3MFY2019
320.9MFY2020
293.1MFY2021
314.6MFY2022
402.6MFY2023
264.9M

Top industries (NAICS)

Special food services · 7223$102.2M33%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$61M20%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$31.9M10%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$22M7.1%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$20M6.4%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in North Chicago, Illinois

FOOD SERVICE LABOR$841.4M
GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN, INC.· Lake County, IL· Facilities & utilities· Sep 25, 2018 – Jun 8, 2026· N0018918CZ053
ABBOTT: TO CONDUCT CLINICAL TRAINING AND VALIDATION STUDIES TO SUPPORT A FUTURE FDA MARKETING APPLICATION WITH AN EXPANDED INDICATION FOR USE OF THE ABBOTT TBI TEST ? TO AID IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY IN ADULTS AND PEDIATRIC PATIENTS.$65.5M
ABBOTT LABORATORIES· Lake County, IL· Research & development· Sep 21, 2022 – Mar 19, 2026· 75A50122C00046
OTHER FUNCTIONS - ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACT (ESPC) VISN 12$64.6M
NORESCO, LLC· Lake County, IL· Construction & real property· Dec 21, 2017 – Sep 23, 2026· 36E77618F0018

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in North Chicago, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

North Chicago, Illinois's figures are part of those of Lake County, IL ($1.1B in FY2026), never added to them: 27% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: North Chicago is mostly in Lake County.

See federal money in Lake County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

North Chicago, Illinois is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Lake County86100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN66

Other cities and towns in Lake County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1753559

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends