Kane County | |
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County | |
The Fabyan Windmill in Geneva is on the National Register of Historic Places in Kane County, Illinois. | |
![]() Location within the U.S. state of Illinois | |
![]() Illinois's location within the U.S. | |
Coordinates: 41°57′N88°26′W / 41.95°N 88.43°W | |
Country | ![]() |
State | ![]() |
Founded | January 16, 1836 |
Named for | Elias Kane |
Seat | Geneva |
Largest city | Aurora |
Area | |
• Total | 524 sq mi (1,360 km2) |
• Land | 520 sq mi (1,300 km2) |
• Water | 4.1 sq mi (11 km2) 0.8% |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 516,522 |
• Estimate (2023) | 514,982 ![]() |
• Density | 990/sq mi (380/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
Congressional districts | 8th, 11th, 14th |
Website | countyofkane |
[1] |
Kane County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 516,522, [2] making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Geneva, [3] and its largest city is Aurora. Kane County is one of the collar counties of the metropolitan statistical area designated "Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI" by the US census.
Kane County was formed out of LaSalle County in 1836. The county was named in honor of Elias Kane, a United States senator and the first secretary of state of Illinois. [4]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county's area was 524 square miles (1,360 km2), of which 520 square miles (1,300 km2) is land and 4.1 square miles (11 km2) (0.8%) is water. [5] Its largest cities are along the Fox River.
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In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Geneva have ranged from a low of 10 °F (−12 °C) in January to a high of 84 °F (29 °C) in July, although a record low of −26 °F (−32 °C) was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of 111 °F (44 °C) was recorded in July 1936. The average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.52 inches (39 mm) in February to 4.39 inches (112 mm) in July. [6]
Kane County has an extensive forest preserve program, with numerous nature preserves, historic sites, and trails. [7]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1840 | 6,501 | — | |
1850 | 16,703 | 156.9% | |
1860 | 30,062 | 80.0% | |
1870 | 39,091 | 30.0% | |
1880 | 44,939 | 15.0% | |
1890 | 65,061 | 44.8% | |
1900 | 78,792 | 21.1% | |
1910 | 91,862 | 16.6% | |
1920 | 99,499 | 8.3% | |
1930 | 125,327 | 26.0% | |
1940 | 130,206 | 3.9% | |
1950 | 150,388 | 15.5% | |
1960 | 208,246 | 38.5% | |
1970 | 251,005 | 20.5% | |
1980 | 278,405 | 10.9% | |
1990 | 317,471 | 14.0% | |
2000 | 404,119 | 27.3% | |
2010 | 515,269 | 27.5% | |
2020 | 516,522 | 0.2% | |
2023 (est.) | 514,982 | [8] | −0.3% |
U.S. Decennial Census [9] 1790–1960 [10] 1900–1990 [11] 1990–2000 [12] 2010–2019 [2] |
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000 [13] | Pop 2010 [14] | Pop 2020 [15] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White alone (NH) | 273,390 | 304,051 | 282,307 | 67.65% | 59.01% | 54.66% |
Black or African American alone (NH) | 22,477 | 27,819 | 26,239 | 5.56% | 5.40% | 5.08% |
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 536 | 591 | 514 | 0.13% | 0.11% | 0.10% |
Asian alone (NH) | 7,142 | 17,505 | 21,191 | 1.77% | 3.40% | 4.10% |
Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 57 | 130 | 115 | 0.01% | 0.03% | 0.02% |
Some Other Race alone (NH) | 338 | 522 | 1,521 | 0.08% | 0.10% | 0.29% |
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) | 4,255 | 6,261 | 15,040 | 1.05% | 1.22% | 2.91% |
Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 95,924 | 158,390 | 169,595 | 23.74% | 30.74% | 32.83% |
Total | 404,119 | 515,269 | 516,522 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the 2010 census, there were 515,269 people, 170,479 households, and 128,323 families residing in the county. [16] The population density was 990.8 inhabitants per square mile (382.6/km2). There were 182,047 housing units at an average density of 350.1 per square mile (135.2/km2). [5] The racial makeup of the county was 74.6% white, 5.7% black or African American, 3.5% Asian, 0.6% American Indian, 13.0% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 30.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.3% were German, 13.0% were Irish, 7.9% were Polish, 7.4% were Italian, 7.1% were English, and 2.4% were American.
Of the 170,479 households, 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.7% were non-families, and 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.45. The median age was 34.5 years. [16]
The median income for a household in the county was $67,767 and the median income for a family was $77,998. Males had a median income of $53,833 versus $39,206 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,480. About 7.0% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over. [17]
There are several hospitals serving the county:
Kane county has an extensive county highway system that includes federal, state and county maintained routes. During the years that the county was represented by Dennis Hastert it received many federal earmarks for highway improvements to respond to population growth. In addition, the county has entered into an agreement with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to operate a limited access toll bridge on the Longmeadow Parkway that is not connected to any other tollway.
Kane County services are overseen by a 24 member Board which is elected every two years. The Board's chair is elected every four years. The Board sets the County's budget. Corrine Michelle Pierog is the current County Board Chair. There are currently 16 Democrats and 8 Republicans on the Board.
In addition to the Board chair, there are nine county officeholders elected countywide every four years. These positions are the Auditor, Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Coroner, Recorder, Regional Office of Education Superintendent, Sheriff, State's Attorney, and Treasurer.
Party | District | Board Member | City/town |
---|---|---|---|
Chair | Corinne Pierog | Batavia | |
1 | Myrna Molina | Aurora | |
2 | Dale Berman | North Aurora | |
3 | Anita Lewis | Aurora | |
4 | Mavis Bates | Aurora | |
5 | Bill Lenert | Sugar Grove | |
6 | Ron Ford | Aurora | |
7 | Monica Silva | Aurora | |
8 | Michelle Gumz | Aurora | |
9 | Gary Daughtery | Gilberts | |
10 | Bill Tarver | Batavia | |
11 | Leslie Juby | Geneva | |
12 | Bill Roth | St. Charles | |
13 | Michael Linder | St. Charles | |
14 | Mark Davoust | St. Charles | |
15 | David Young | Elgin | |
16 | Michael Kenyon | South Elgin | |
17 | Deborah Allan | Elgin | |
18 | Rick Williams | Geneva | |
19 | Mohammad "Mo" Iqbal | Elgin | |
20 | Cherryl Fritz Strathmann | Elgin | |
21 | Clifford Surges | Gilberts | |
22 | Verner (Vern) Tepe | Elgin | |
23 | Chris Kious | Algonquin | |
24 | Jarett Sanchez | Carpentersville |
Party | Office | Name | Party | Serving Until |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kane County Clerk | John "Jack" A. Cunningham | Republican | 2026 | |
Sheriff | Ron Hain | Democratic | 2026 | |
Treasurer | Chris Lauzen | Republican | 2026 | |
Board Chair | Corinne M. Pierog | Democratic | 2024 | |
Circuit Clerk | Theresa Barreiro | Democratic | 2024 | |
Auditor | Penny Wegman | Democratic | 2024 | |
Coroner | L. Robert Russell | Republican | 2024 | |
Recorder | Sandy Wegman | Republican | 2024 | |
State's Attorney | Jamie Mosser | Democratic | 2024 |
Kane County is coterminous with the 16th Judicial Circuit. The 16th Judicial Circuit is divided into four subcircuits. The first subcircuit consists of the majority of Aurora Township. The second subcircuit consists of most of Elgin and Dundee townships. The fourth subcircuit consists the tri-cities area of Batavia, Geneva, and Saint Charles. The third subcircuit consists of all territory not included in the other three subcircuits, which corresponds to an area of roughly the western two thirds of the county. [21]
As one of the Yankee-settled and prosperous suburban "collar counties", Kane County was a stronghold of the Free Soil Party in its first few elections, being one of nine Illinois counties to give a plurality to Martin van Buren in 1848. Kane County then unsurprisingly became solidly Republican for the century and a half following that party's formation. It voted for the GOP presidential nominee in every election between 1856 and 2004 except that of 1912 when the Republican Party was mortally divided and Progressive candidate Theodore Roosevelt carried the county with a majority of the vote over conservative incumbent William Howard Taft.
The gradual shift of the GOP towards white Southern Evangelicals, however, has led the generally moderate electorate of Kane and the other "collar counties" to trend towards the Democratic Party. In 2008, Senator Barack Obama became the first Democrat to carry Kane County since Franklin Pierce in 1852, and the first ever to win an absolute majority of the county's vote (the previous two Democratic winners, Pierce and James K. Polk in 1844 had both gained only pluralities due to strong Free Soil votes). Obama won a plurality in 2012, and Hillary Clinton improved upon Obama's showing to become the second Democrat to win a majority in 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden had the best performance ever by a Democrat in the county, even besting Obama's 2008 victory.
Kane County is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrats Bill Foster (11th District), Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District), and Lauren Underwood (14th District). [22]
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 96,775 | 41.74% | 130,166 | 56.14% | 4,935 | 2.13% |
2016 | 82,734 | 41.43% | 103,665 | 51.91% | 13,288 | 6.65% |
2012 | 88,335 | 48.61% | 90,332 | 49.71% | 3,058 | 1.68% |
2008 | 83,963 | 43.42% | 106,756 | 55.21% | 2,644 | 1.37% |
2004 | 92,065 | 55.03% | 73,813 | 44.12% | 1,419 | 0.85% |
2000 | 76,996 | 54.45% | 60,127 | 42.52% | 4,282 | 3.03% |
1996 | 54,375 | 47.41% | 47,902 | 41.77% | 12,416 | 10.83% |
1992 | 55,684 | 43.52% | 44,568 | 34.84% | 27,686 | 21.64% |
1988 | 66,283 | 64.10% | 36,366 | 35.17% | 763 | 0.74% |
1984 | 72,655 | 69.09% | 31,875 | 30.31% | 629 | 0.60% |
1980 | 64,106 | 61.77% | 29,015 | 27.96% | 10,663 | 10.27% |
1976 | 59,275 | 62.15% | 34,057 | 35.71% | 2,042 | 2.14% |
1972 | 64,546 | 69.87% | 27,525 | 29.80% | 306 | 0.33% |
1968 | 54,144 | 61.94% | 26,609 | 30.44% | 6,667 | 7.63% |
1964 | 46,391 | 53.27% | 40,703 | 46.73% | 0 | 0.00% |
1960 | 55,389 | 63.84% | 31,279 | 36.05% | 93 | 0.11% |
1956 | 56,009 | 72.82% | 20,848 | 27.10% | 59 | 0.08% |
1952 | 50,801 | 67.78% | 24,058 | 32.10% | 96 | 0.13% |
1948 | 39,284 | 64.41% | 21,176 | 34.72% | 532 | 0.87% |
1944 | 38,689 | 62.16% | 23,362 | 37.54% | 185 | 0.30% |
1940 | 41,949 | 61.77% | 25,676 | 37.81% | 289 | 0.43% |
1936 | 33,491 | 52.55% | 28,187 | 44.23% | 2,051 | 3.22% |
1932 | 32,934 | 56.15% | 24,638 | 42.00% | 1,084 | 1.85% |
1928 | 38,236 | 69.94% | 16,184 | 29.60% | 253 | 0.46% |
1924 | 32,717 | 76.34% | 3,517 | 8.21% | 6,624 | 15.46% |
1920 | 26,832 | 82.82% | 4,323 | 13.34% | 1,243 | 3.84% |
1916 | 23,868 | 67.71% | 9,875 | 28.01% | 1,506 | 4.27% |
1912 | 2,415 | 12.67% | 4,394 | 23.05% | 12,257 | 64.29% |
1908 | 12,840 | 70.29% | 4,316 | 23.63% | 1,111 | 6.08% |
1904 | 12,638 | 75.64% | 2,799 | 16.75% | 1,271 | 7.61% |
1900 | 12,031 | 67.55% | 5,259 | 29.53% | 521 | 2.93% |
1896 | 12,133 | 69.94% | 4,852 | 27.97% | 362 | 2.09% |
1892 | 7,977 | 53.80% | 5,778 | 38.97% | 1,072 | 7.23% |
McHenry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 Census, it had a population of 310,229, making it the sixth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Woodstock. McHenry County is one of the five Illinois collar counties in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. Long known as a center of recreation along with agriculture in the western portion, it has recently experienced rapid rates of suburbanization, exurbanization and urbanization, but the western segment of the county remains primarily agricultural and rural.
Lake County is a county located in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 714,342, making it the third-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Waukegan, the tenth-largest city in Illinois. The county is primarily suburban, with some urban areas and some rural areas. Due to its location, immediately north of Cook County, Lake County is one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. Its northern boundary is the Wisconsin state line.
East Dundee is a village in Kane County with a small section in Cook County. The population was 3,152 at the 2020 census.
Elgin is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located 35 mi (56 km) northwest of Chicago along the Fox River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 114,797, making it the sixth-most populous city in the state.
Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. Located primarily in Kane and DuPage counties along the Fox River, it is the second-most populous city in Illinois, after Chicago, and the 144th-most populous city in the U.S. The population was 180,542 at the 2020 census. Aurora is the largest city in Illinois that is not the county seat of any county that it resides in.
Batavia is a city mainly in Kane County and partly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in the Chicago metropolitan area, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 26,098.
Wayne is a village in DuPage and Kane counties, Illinois, United States. The eastern portion, in DuPage County, is in Wayne Township, while the western portion, in Kane County, is in St. Charles Township. The population was 2,286 as of the 2020 census.
West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,614 at the 2020 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner, after its founder, John B. Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) in 1855. The city was initially established around the first junction of railroad lines in Illinois, and today is still served by the Union Pacific West Metra service via West Chicago station.
Algonquin is a village in McHenry and Kane counties, Illinois, in the United States. It is a suburb of Chicago, located approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest of the Loop. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 29,700.
Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 37,983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.
Elburn is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,602 as of the 2010 census, up from 2,756 at the 2000 census. It is located at the intersection of Illinois Route 38 and Route 47. Elburn is a town situated 46 miles (74 km) west of the Chicago Loop with frequent commuter rail service from its Metra station at the end of the Union Pacific West Line.
South Elgin is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 23,865. In 2007, Money magazine named South Elgin as 82nd of 100 entries in its "America's Best Places to Live" edition and again in 2011 as 98th of 100 entries.
West Dundee is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,686 as of the 2020 US Census. It is considered a far northwest Chicago suburb.
Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the western side of the Chicago suburbs. Per the 2020 census, the population was 21,393.
Batavia Township is in Kane County, Illinois. It is divided by the Fox River. As of the 2010 census, its population was 35,221 and it contained 12,892 housing units. The western part of the United States Department of Energy's Fermilab is at the township's eastern edge, although most of the facility is in neighboring Winfield Township in DuPage County.
Wayne Township is one of nine townships in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 64,427 and it contained 21,788 housing units.
Winfield Township is one of nine townships in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 45,836 and it contained 16,445 housing units. It is the least populous of the DuPage County Townships.
St. Charles is a city in DuPage and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It lies roughly 40 miles (64 km) west of Chicago on Illinois Route 64. Per the 2020 census, the population was 33,081. The official city slogan is "Pride of the Fox", after the Fox River that runs through the center of town. St. Charles is part of a tri-city area along with Geneva and Batavia, all western suburbs of similar size and socioeconomic condition.
The Fox River Trail is a multi-use path in Illinois along the Fox River. Largely in Kane County, the trail connects the communities of Algonquin, Carpentersville, Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora, Montgomery, and Oswego.
The Tri-Cities, or Tri-City area, is a vernacular region that is situated between the large cities of Aurora and Elgin, Illinois, and encompasses the cities of Batavia, Geneva, and St. Charles.