The 10 Most Liberal Cities In Illinois For 2023


The most liberal cities in Illinois are Chicago and Elgin for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

In this article, we will explore some of the most liberal cities in Illinois, where progressive ideas and inclusive attitudes flourish.

If you’re looking to move to Illinois and want to know where the majority of Illinoisans lean left, you’ve come to the right place.

Specifically, we wanted to know which cities have the highest number of liberal voters in the Prairie State.

To do so, we analyzed how the people in each city in Illinois with a population greater than 5,000 voted during the last presidential election. The cities with the highest percentage of voters who voted Democrat were named the most liberal cities in the state.

The 10 Most Liberal Places In Illinois For 2023:

  1. Chicago
  2. Elgin
  3. Cicero
  4. Evanston
  5. Schaumburg
  6. Arlington Heights
  7. Palatine
  8. Skokie
  9. Des Plaines
  10. Orland Park

If you’re wondering, Vandalia is the most conservative city in Illinois of all those we measured.

And to be clear, we didn’t form this list based on our biases — we relied on the cold hard data. For more on how we ran the numbers, keep on reading. Then, we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 most liberal cities in Illinois.

And if you already knew these places were liberal, check out some more reading about Illinois and the most liberal places in the country:


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


The 10 Most Liberal Places In Illinois For 2023

Chicago, IL

Source: Flickr User ::RodrixParedes:: | CC BY 2.0
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Chicago: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Elgin, IL

Source: Wikipedia User G LeTourneau | GFDL
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Elgin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Cicero, IL

Source: Wikipedia User MrHarman | GFDL
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Cicero: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Evanston, IL

Source: Public domain
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Evanston: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Schaumburg, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Ken Lund | CC BY-SA 2.0
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Schaumburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Arlington Heights, IL

Source: Wikipedia User G LeTourneau | GFDL
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Arlington Heights: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Palatine, IL

Source: Public domain
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Palatine: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Skokie, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Silverstone1 at en.wikipedia | GFDL
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Skokie: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Des Plaines, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Bruce Marlin | CC BY-SA 2.5
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Des Plaines: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Orland Park, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Teemu08 at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0
Percent Democrat: 74.3%
More on Orland Park: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

How we determined the most liberal cities in Illinois for 2023

To find the most liberal places in Illinois, we used Saturday Night Science – the argument you’d make at a bar – to find the cities with the most liberals.

Straight forward.

We started by making a list of every city in Illinois over 5,000 people based on the 2017-2021 American Community Survey. That left us with 332 cities and towns.

We then measured the voting record and MIT election data to determine which places lean the most leftward in their allegiances by:

  1. Percentage Of Votes For Democratic President In 2020

Because no voting data exists at the city level, we used county-level election results from the 2020 election. We assigned every city in a county the percentage of votes that went to the Democrats, effectively extending the county’s results to the city level. In cases where larger cities encompassed an entire county, the election outcomes accurately reflected the city’s political landscape.

The winner, Chicago, is “The Most liberal City in Illinois For 2023”. The most conservative place in Illinois was Vandalia.

We updated this article for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the most liberal places to live in Illinois.

Summing Up The Liberal Snowflakes in Illinois

Well, there you have it, the places in Illinois that have the highest number of liberals per capita, with Chicago ranking as the least conservative in the entire state.

If you’re curious, here are the least liberal cities in Illinois:

  1. Vandalia
  2. Effingham
  3. Carmi

For more Illinois reading, check out:

Most Liberal Places In Illinois

Rank City Population % Liberal
1 Chicago, IL 2,742,119 74.3%
2 Elgin, IL 114,156 74.3%
3 Cicero, IL 84,905 74.3%
4 Evanston, IL 78,454 74.3%
5 Schaumburg, IL 78,053 74.3%
6 Arlington Heights, IL 77,283 74.3%
7 Palatine, IL 67,754 74.3%
8 Skokie, IL 67,444 74.3%
9 Des Plaines, IL 60,413 74.3%
10 Orland Park, IL 58,622 74.3%
11 Oak Lawn, IL 58,032 74.3%
12 Berwyn, IL 56,960 74.3%
13 Mount Prospect, IL 56,510 74.3%
14 Tinley Park, IL 55,988 74.3%
15 Oak Park, IL 54,100 74.3%
16 Hoffman Estates, IL 52,153 74.3%
17 Glenview, IL 48,150 74.3%
18 Elmhurst, IL 45,661 74.3%
19 Buffalo Grove, IL 43,062 74.3%
20 Bartlett, IL 41,126 74.3%
21 Streamwood, IL 39,736 74.3%
22 Park Ridge, IL 39,562 74.3%
23 Wheeling, IL 39,104 74.3%
24 Hanover Park, IL 37,545 74.3%
25 Calumet City, IL 36,065 74.3%
26 Northbrook, IL 35,108 74.3%
27 Woodridge, IL 34,161 74.3%
28 Elk Grove Village, IL 32,763 74.3%
29 Niles, IL 30,971 74.3%
30 Burbank, IL 29,312 74.3%
31 Lansing, IL 28,916 74.3%
32 Wilmette, IL 27,895 74.3%
33 Chicago Heights, IL 27,840 74.3%
34 Oak Forest, IL 27,445 74.3%
35 Melrose Park, IL 25,417 74.3%
36 Morton Grove, IL 25,004 74.3%
37 Homer Glen, IL 24,664 74.3%
38 Elmwood Park, IL 24,517 74.3%
39 Rolling Meadows, IL 24,300 74.3%
40 Maywood, IL 23,547 74.3%
41 Roselle, IL 23,000 74.3%
42 Blue Island, IL 22,934 74.3%
43 Dolton, IL 21,588 74.3%
44 South Holland, IL 21,524 74.3%
45 Park Forest, IL 21,368 74.3%
46 Harvey, IL 20,751 74.3%
47 Frankfort, IL 20,040 74.3%
48 Evergreen Park, IL 19,884 74.3%
49 Homewood, IL 19,716 74.3%
50 Brookfield, IL 19,517 74.3%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.