akashic
1876–2024
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN·Illinois

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN delivered D+25 in 2024.

Third-largest U.S. metro, anchored by a city that hasn't backed a Republican presidential candidate since 1972

1876 — 2024·38 elections
IL
Latest
D+25
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
9,371,595
2024 ACS

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+25%. Republican peak: R+51 in 1920.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
D+25MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
9,371,5952024 5-year
Median household income
$91,9002024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
52.9%2024 5-year
Black
16.0%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
24.1%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+36 in 2008MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+51 in 1920MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
13 counties · 8 D · 5 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
D
+24.6%
2,458,8741,468,6374,018,360
D
+32.4%
2,840,8221,430,6384,359,043
D
+33.5%
2,536,6331,201,7843,983,323
D
+29.4%
2,364,2741,277,6613,701,534
D
+35.9%
2,622,1511,224,2143,888,744
D
+20.9%
2,185,5521,425,1723,635,742
D
+20.9%
1,912,3531,236,0473,236,328
D
+24.1%
1,680,475982,9202,896,618
D
+16.9%
1,728,6531,149,0853,437,486
R
−0.2%
1,544,7661,551,7313,120,515
R
−8.8%
1,489,1711,777,9543,285,755
R
−0.5%
1,461,6251,479,1173,225,886
D
+0.1%
1,576,6121,571,9533,209,323
R
−15.3%
1,360,0841,854,0203,230,894
D
+1.8%
1,467,3721,411,1103,166,805
D
+20.7%
1,948,0031,279,4443,228,502
D
+7.2%
1,715,9581,483,5153,208,010
R
−18.3%
1,188,8041,723,1992,919,138
R
−5.1%
1,398,1301,549,4632,955,984
D
+4.8%
1,403,1601,273,5332,697,711
D
+11.2%
1,471,1111,173,5952,652,701
D
+6.8%
1,369,0811,193,6982,572,983
D
+23.4%
1,456,991892,4522,415,668
D
+10.4%
1,089,483877,9852,032,277
R
−10.5%
828,7451,024,7151,867,631
R
−44.0%
258,177849,7041,343,795
R
−51.1%
228,458779,0691,078,242
R
−11.0%
435,450548,4211,024,729
O
+11.2%
158,41498,792533,037
R
−22.1%
182,748296,815516,819
R
−35.3%
123,123293,665482,984
R
−9.5%
216,972263,797494,443
R
−20.8%
182,134279,679469,156
D
+7.4%
174,674149,905334,528
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
12.7%
Irish
10.1%
Polish
7.8%
Italian
6.0%
English
4.9%
American
2.5%
French
1.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 38.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.7%
85+
1.2%
2.0%
75–84
2.7%
4.5%
65–74
5.1%
6.2%
55–64
6.4%
6.3%
45–54
6.4%
6.9%
35–44
6.8%
7.1%
25–34
7.1%
4.5%
18–24
4.4%
8.5%
5–17
8.1%
2.8%
<5
2.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$91,900
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$91,900
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.9%
Working age (18–64)10.1%
Seniors (65+)11.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
69.4%
speak English only
Spanish18.1%
Other Indo-European7.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.7%
Other languages1.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
29.4%
Other Christian
6.6%
Non-Christian
6.4%
Mainline Protestant
3.9%
Baptist
3.3%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.7%
Methodist
1.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 47.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Cook County's overwhelming Democratic margins routinely offset competitive results in the Indiana counties and outer Illinois suburbs that share this 14-county metro, making aggregate vote totals a misleading read on the region's internal diversity.

The Democratic margin in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN has rarely exceeded thirty-six points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded fifty-one points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by twenty-five points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 53% non-Hispanic-white share, a 11% poverty rate, and a median household income of $91,900 — all within the broad national range.

Compare two places, side by side

Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/16980/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois voted Democratic by 24.6 points (D+25), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 4,018,360 votes cast, 2,458,874 went Democratic and 1,468,637 went Republican.
What is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 19 times, Republican 14 times, and other 1 times.
When did Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois voted Republican was 1988.
How many people live in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois has a population of 9,371,595 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois?
Median household income in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois is $91,900 — above the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.