North Chicago vs Waukegan

A side-by-side comparison of North Chicago and Waukegan: population, income, housing, and more.

North Chicago and Waukegan are places in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Waukegan has the higher population (88,919 vs 30,772 in North Chicago). Waukegan has the higher median household income ($70,578 vs $56,815 in North Chicago). Waukegan has the higher median home value ($177,600 vs $147,800 in North Chicago).

Population, income & housing

	North Chicago	Waukegan
Population	30,772	88,919
Median age	23.6 yrs	34.6 yrs
Median household income	$56,815	$70,578
Median home value	$147,800	$177,600
Median gross rent	$1,392	$1,163
Housing units	8,085	32,842
Homeownership rate	33.3%	50.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.1%	21.0%
Unemployment rate	8.7%	5.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	North Chicago	Waukegan
Population	29,971 → 30,772 (+2.7%)	87,297 → 88,919 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$43,094 → $56,815 (+31.8%)	$49,803 → $70,578 (+41.7%)
Median home value	$108,100 → $147,800 (+36.7%)	$132,200 → $177,600 (+34.3%)
Median gross rent	$1,193 → $1,392 (+16.7%)	$960 → $1,163 (+21.1%)

North Chicago

Population

29,97130,772

Median household income

$43,094$56,815

Median home value

$108,100$147,800

Median gross rent

$1,193$1,392

Waukegan

Population

87,29788,919

Median household income

$49,803$70,578

Median home value

$132,200$177,600

Median gross rent

$960$1,163

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	North Chicago	Waukegan
Under 5	5.5%	5.5%
5 to 17	12.5%	18.6%
18 to 24	37.0%	10.8%
25 to 34	18.8%	15.6%
35 to 44	8.4%	13.5%
45 to 54	5.5%	12.6%
55 to 64	5.5%	11.6%
65 to 74	4.5%	7.6%
75 and over	2.3%	4.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	North Chicago	Waukegan
White (non-Hispanic)	28.5%	18.1%
Black or African American	23.3%	15.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	4.9%	5.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.9%
Two or more races	3.7%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	38.6%	57.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	North Chicago	Waukegan
No high school diploma	18.9%	23.5%
High school graduate	29.9%	30.0%
Some college or associate's	32.1%	25.4%
Bachelor's degree	13.1%	14.3%
Graduate or professional degree	6.0%	6.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	North Chicago	Waukegan
Drove alone	45.3%	69.9%
Carpooled	9.7%	17.2%
Public transit	1.4%	2.5%
Walked	21.7%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	20.0%	6.7%
Other means	1.7%	2.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	North Chicago	Waukegan
1-unit, detached	36.7%	51.4%
1-unit, attached	12.4%	7.0%
2 to 4 units	22.3%	13.6%
5 to 19 units	18.9%	14.7%
20 or more units	9.3%	13.1%
Mobile home & other	0.3%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	North Chicago	Waukegan
Poverty rate	21.9%	15.3%
Average household size	2.66	2.77
Mean commute (minutes)	17	26
Median year structure built	1972	1967