The 10 Illinois Cities With The Largest Black Population For 2024


The most African American cities in Illinois are East St. Louis and Dolton for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Most African American cities in Illinois research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Illinois’s most recent Census data to determine the blackest cities in Illinois based on the percentage of Black residents. Here are the results of our analysis:

  • The city with the largest African American population in Illinois is East St. Louis based on the most recent Census data.

  • East St. Louis is 93.42% Black.

  • The least African American city in Illinois is Lake Bluff.

  • Lake Bluff is 0.0% Black.

  • Illinois is 13.7% Black.

  • Illinois is the 14th blackest state in the United States.

Cities With Highest Black Population In Illinois Map


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The Black community is one of the fastest-growing communities in America this decade.

Roughly 42 million people identifying as Black or African American live in the United States, making up 12% of the total population. According to the most recent American Community Survey, the Black population in Illinois is 1,744,151 – at 13.7% of the total population of Illinois.

The percentage growth of Blacks in America is the third largest percentage change for any race according to the Census’s race and ethnicity definition. Most scholars and historians agree that increasing diversity in America is a good thing.

We agree.

But how has the increase in the black population impacted Illinois? Which cities and towns in Illinois have seen the greatest increase in its Black population?

We broke down the most recent census data to determine the cities in Illinois with the largest African American population in 2024:

What’s the blackest city in Illinois? The city with the largest Black population in Illinois for 2024 is East St. Louis. See if East St. Louis ranked as one of the most african american places in America.

And if you already knew these places were Black, check out the best places to live in Illinois or the most diverse places in Illinois.

The 10 Blackest Cities In Illinois For 2024

1. East St. Louis

East St. Louis, IL

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 18,796
% African American: 93.42%
# Of African American Residents: 17,559
Percent Change Since 2010: -35.13%
More on East St. Louis: Data | Cost Of Living

2. Dolton

Dolton, IL

Source: Flickr User davidwilson1949 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 21,283
% African American: 91.19%
# Of African American Residents: 19,409
Percent Change Since 2010: -7.83%
More on Dolton: Data | Cost Of Living

3. Richton Park

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 12,721
% African American: 88.73%
# Of African American Residents: 11,287
Percent Change Since 2010: 9.5%
More on Richton Park: Data | Cost Of Living

4. Country Club Hills

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 16,578
% African American: 88.52%
# Of African American Residents: 14,675
Percent Change Since 2010: 3.89%
More on Country Club Hills: Data | Cost Of Living

5. Riverdale

Riverdale, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Zol87 from Chicago, Illinois, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 10,528
% African American: 87.53%
# Of African American Residents: 9,215
Percent Change Since 2010: -28.03%
More on Riverdale: Data | Cost Of Living

6. Calumet Park

Calumet Park, IL

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 7,193
% African American: 86.67%
# Of African American Residents: 6,234
Percent Change Since 2010: -3.93%
More on Calumet Park: Data | Cost Of Living

7. Hazel Crest

Hazel Crest, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Marcusmax | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 13,737
% African American: 86.29%
# Of African American Residents: 11,853
Percent Change Since 2010: -0.94%
More on Hazel Crest: Data | Cost Of Living

8. University Park

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,328
% African American: 83.39%
# Of African American Residents: 6,111
Percent Change Since 2010: -2.77%
More on University Park: Data | Cost Of Living

9. Matteson

Matteson, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 18,898
% African American: 80.07%
# Of African American Residents: 15,132
Percent Change Since 2010: 9.92%
More on Matteson: Data | Cost Of Living

10. South Holland

South Holland, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Dennisyerger84 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 21,287
% African American: 79.48%
# Of African American Residents: 16,918
Percent Change Since 2010: 1.93%
More on South Holland: Data | Cost Of Living

Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Illinois With The Largest Black Population For 2024

We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Illinois.

That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2018-2022 American Community Survey data from the US Census.

Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • White alone*
  • Black or African American alone*
  • American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
  • Asian alone*
  • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
  • Some other race alone*
  • Two or more races*
* Not Hispanic or latino

Our particular column of interest was the number of people who identified as Black or African American.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people in Illinois. That left us with 324 cities.

We then calculated the percentage of residents that are Black or African American. The percentages ranked from 93.4% to 0.0%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of the Black population, with a higher score being more Black than a lower score. East St. Louis took the distinction of being the most Black, while Lake Bluff was the least African American city.

We updated this article for 2024. This is our tenth time ranking the cities in Illinois with the largest African American population.

Read on for more information on how the cities in Illinois ranked by population of African American residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.

Summary: Black Populations Across Illinois

If you’re looking for a breakdown of African American populations across Illinois according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.

The blackest cities in Illinois are East St. Louis, Dolton, Richton Park, Country Club Hills, Riverdale, Calumet Park, Hazel Crest, University Park, Matteson, and South Holland.

If you’re curious enough, here are the least African American places in Illinois:

  1. Lake Bluff
  2. Pana
  3. Elburn

For more Illinois reading, check out:

African American Population By City In Illinois

Rank City Population African American Population % African American
1 East St. Louis 18,796 17,559 93.42%
2 Dolton 21,283 19,409 91.19%
3 Richton Park 12,721 11,287 88.73%
4 Country Club Hills 16,578 14,675 88.52%
5 Riverdale 10,528 9,215 87.53%
6 Calumet Park 7,193 6,234 86.67%
7 Hazel Crest 13,737 11,853 86.29%
8 University Park 7,328 6,111 83.39%
9 Matteson 18,898 15,132 80.07%
10 South Holland 21,287 16,918 79.48%
11 Markham 11,592 8,508 73.4%
12 Calumet City 35,708 25,455 71.29%
13 Park Forest 21,042 14,912 70.87%
14 Lynwood 9,087 6,416 70.61%
15 Bellwood 18,611 13,086 70.31%
16 Broadview 7,957 5,448 68.47%
17 Glenwood 8,542 5,451 63.81%
18 Flossmoor 9,405 5,883 62.55%
19 Sauk Village 9,862 6,124 62.1%
20 Maywood 23,385 14,072 60.18%
21 Harvey 20,035 11,785 58.82%
22 Homewood 19,868 9,891 49.78%
23 Hillside 8,213 3,999 48.69%
24 Lansing 28,713 13,560 47.23%
25 Kankakee 24,795 10,201 41.14%
26 Chicago Heights 27,366 10,792 39.44%
27 Crete 8,425 2,914 34.59%
28 Blue Island 22,934 7,610 33.18%
29 Danville 29,100 9,614 33.04%
30 Belleville 42,155 12,884 30.56%
31 Fairview Heights 16,360 4,951 30.26%
32 Chicago 2,721,914 771,853 28.36%
33 Carbondale 22,039 6,012 27.28%
34 Peoria 113,054 29,831 26.39%
35 Chester 6,941 1,790 25.79%
36 Forest Park 14,165 3,578 25.26%
37 Berkeley 5,283 1,322 25.02%
38 Alton 25,642 6,313 24.62%
39 North Chicago 30,890 7,526 24.36%
40 Decatur 70,975 16,960 23.9%
41 Alsip 18,866 4,348 23.05%
42 Evergreen Park 19,730 4,468 22.65%
43 Rantoul 12,544 2,821 22.49%
44 Pinckneyville 5,104 1,142 22.37%
45 Shiloh 13,892 2,997 21.57%
46 Zion 24,570 5,297 21.56%
47 Rockford 148,173 31,677 21.38%
48 Justice 12,525 2,673 21.34%
49 Crest Hill 19,886 4,181 21.02%
50 Swansea 14,888 3,058 20.54%
51 Springfield 114,214 22,961 20.1%
52 Westchester 16,694 3,202 19.18%
53 Oak Park 53,834 10,138 18.83%
54 Waukegan 89,435 15,891 17.77%
55 Bolingbrook 73,755 13,084 17.74%
56 Champaign 88,628 15,084 17.02%
57 East Moline 20,937 3,531 16.86%
58 Joliet 150,221 25,331 16.86%
59 Urbana 38,741 6,505 16.79%
60 Evanston 77,181 12,415 16.09%
61 Rock Island 37,264 5,964 16.0%
62 Greenville 7,121 1,125 15.8%
63 Steger 9,518 1,502 15.78%
64 Collinsville 24,294 3,811 15.69%
65 Murphysboro 7,101 1,059 14.91%
66 Dekalb 40,697 5,913 14.53%
67 Freeport 23,884 3,348 14.02%
68 Beach Park 13,995 1,880 13.43%
69 Posen 5,442 713 13.1%
70 O’fallon 32,104 4,077 12.7%
71 Normal 52,920 6,684 12.63%
72 Galesburg 29,923 3,764 12.58%
73 Mount Vernon 14,740 1,853 12.57%
74 Hillsboro 5,673 664 11.7%
75 Robinson 7,089 805 11.36%
76 Granite City 27,026 3,006 11.12%
77 Romeoville 40,132 4,434 11.05%
78 Crestwood 10,737 1,163 10.83%
79 Woodridge 34,027 3,671 10.79%
80 Glendale Heights 33,088 3,418 10.33%
81 Aurora 181,405 18,734 10.33%
82 Centralia 12,096 1,237 10.23%
83 Dixon 15,573 1,582 10.16%
84 Vandalia 6,058 609 10.05%
85 Oswego 34,810 3,458 9.93%
86 Bourbonnais 18,125 1,783 9.84%
87 Frankfort 20,260 1,946 9.61%
88 Midlothian 14,200 1,357 9.56%
89 North Riverside 7,245 691 9.54%
90 Bloomington 78,788 7,390 9.38%
91 Moline 42,452 3,959 9.33%
92 Summit 11,036 1,021 9.25%
93 Pontiac 11,451 1,054 9.2%
94 Grayslake 20,801 1,881 9.04%
95 Skokie 67,076 5,995 8.94%
96 Plainfield 44,941 4,013 8.93%
97 Orland Hills 6,842 609 8.9%
98 Macomb 15,207 1,277 8.4%
99 North Aurora 17,750 1,472 8.29%
100 Berwyn 56,556 4,647 8.22%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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