Chicago slightly reversed its recent population loss, while outlying suburbs like Plainfield and Lockport continued to grow at the fastest rates in Illinois, reflecting nationwide growth in medium-sized towns, new U.S. Census estimates show.
Chicago gained 5,253 residents in the year leading up to July 1, 2025, remaining the third largest city in the United States, at 2,731,585. Still, since 2020, the city has lost 16,748 people, or 0.6%.
The newest data fits a trend, alongside news that Chicago once again has the country’s busiest airfield and is a top tourist destination, disproving the narrative that the city is shrinking, said Erin Connelly, communication director for Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Because the city is walkable, increasingly safe and more affordable than other top American cities, “it’s no surprise that folks are moving back,” she said. Johnson hopes to continue the trend by focusing on building housing and making the city better for working families, she added.
“Chicago continues to be more and more attractive as folks consider their lifestyle and what matters to them,” Connelly said. “We’re focused on the right things.”
Further out in the six-county area, far west suburban Plainfield was the largest-gaining suburb with 1,218 more people last year, or 2.5%, reaching 50,043, the census reported. Northwest suburban West Dundee had the greatest percentage growth in the area, at 5.8%, or 470 people. Southwest suburban Lockport added 919 people, or 3.4%.
Older established towns and inner-ring suburbs lost population. Waukegan lost 250 people and Cicero lost the most in the six-county Chicago area, with 266, while neighboring Berwyn lost 157.
Since the baseline count of April 2020, Plainfield gained the most new residents — 5,154, or 11.5%. Nearby Naperville gained 3,579.
And North Chicago, along the lakefront about 35 miles north of Chicago, which had lost a big chunk of residents in the two decades before 2020, has since gained back 3,285 people, or nearly 11%.
North Chicago chief of staff Greg Jackson credits improved schools and lower crime, and policies to welcome new business and new medium-priced housing. Whereas older homes were often two-bedroom starter homes, now there are new three- and four-bedroom homes, with prices clearing $400,000, which was previously unheard of.
“The city is going through a bit of a renaissance,” Jackson said. “We’re moving forward with economic development and housing stock.”
The city plans a new housing development next to Naval Station Great Lakes, pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. plans to invest $380 million in expanding its facilities, and WalletHub recently ranked the city as the best small city in Illinois to start a business.
In the same time frame, inner-ring suburbs have lost residents. Cicero was the biggest loser since 2020 — 3,436 people, or 4%, left the town. Neighboring Berwyn lost 2,234, or 3.9%.
Nationwide, the slow growth in central cities was outpaced by surrounding midsize towns.
“Big-city growth slowed significantly between 2024 and 2025, with some major hubs even seeing small declines,” said Matt Erickson, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “In contrast, midsized cities found a ‘Goldilocks zone’ where domestic and international migration, paired with new housing, helped prevent the sluggish growth seen in small towns and larger metropolitan centers.”
