The 10 Whitest Cities In Illinois For 2023


We used science and data to determine which cities in IL are white central.

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You're at your local Whole Foods shopping for kale chips and asparagus water, trying to work out if you'll have time to stop at the Pottery Barn before you head to your yoga class taught by a girl named Sage. It hits you: you're leading the whitest life imaginable.

But does that mean the city you live in is one of the whitest places in Illinois?

Don't worry, we've figured it out for you. Using actual census data combined with our favorite white people stereotypes (as confirmed by the internet), we can determine which cities are the whitest of the white in Prairie State.

After analyzing cities with populations greater than 5,000, we came up with this list as the whitest cities in Illinois for 2023.

Here are the 10 whites places in Illinois for 2023:

  1. Pana
  2. Paris
  3. West Frankfort
  4. Jerseyville
  5. Litchfield
  6. Columbia
  7. Waterloo
  8. Monticello
  9. Taylorville
  10. Carmi

What is the whitest city in Illinois for 2023? According to the most recent census data Pana ranks as the whitest. If you're wondering, Calumet Park is the least white city of all those we measured.

Read on below to see where your hometown ranked and why. Or check out the whitest states in America and the most diverse states in America.

For more Illinois reading, check out:

The 10 Whitest Cities In Illinois For 2023

1. Pana

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,304
% White: 97.17%
More on Pana: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Pana, IL

2. Paris

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,553
% White: 96.98%
More on Paris: Real Estate | Data

Paris, IL

3. West Frankfort

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 7,299
% White: 96.41%
More on West Frankfort: Real Estate | Data | Photos

West Frankfort, IL

Source: Public domain

4. Jerseyville

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 7,674
% White: 95.71%
More on Jerseyville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Jerseyville, IL

5. Litchfield

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,960
% White: 95.69%
More on Litchfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Litchfield, IL

6. Columbia

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 11,090
% White: 95.51%
More on Columbia: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Columbia, IL

Source: Public domain

7. Waterloo

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,906
% White: 95.25%
More on Waterloo: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Waterloo, IL

8. Monticello

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,202
% White: 95.1%
More on Monticello: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Monticello, IL

9. Taylorville

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 11,163
% White: 94.97%
More on Taylorville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Taylorville, IL

10. Carmi

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,012
% White: 94.91%
More on Carmi: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Carmi, IL

Source: Public domain

Methodology: How we determined the whitest places in Illinois for 2023

In order to rank the whitest places in Illinois, we had to determine what measurable criteria defines whiteness.

Obviously we had to count how many white people living there, specifically the percentage of white people living in each city in Illinois.

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 here was the number of people who identified as White alone.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 326 cities.

We then calculated the percent of residents that are White. The percentages ranked from 97.2% to 1.4%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percent of White population with a higher score being more White than a lower score. Pana took the distinction of being the most White, while Calumet Park was the least White city. You can download the data here.

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

Summary: White Populations Across Illinois

Measuring the locations with the highest percentage of white people, this list provides accurate information on the whitest places in Illinois according to the most recent data.

If you're curious enough, here are the least White places in Illinois:

  1. Calumet Park
  2. East St. Louis
  3. Riverdale

For more Illinois reading, check out:

White Population By City In { state|title }}

Rank City % White Population
1 Pana 97.17% 5,304
2 Paris 96.98% 8,553
3 West Frankfort 96.41% 7,299
4 Jerseyville 95.71% 7,674
5 Litchfield 95.69% 6,960
6 Columbia 95.51% 11,090
7 Waterloo 95.25% 10,906
8 Monticello 95.1% 6,202
9 Taylorville 94.97% 11,163
10 Carmi 94.91% 5,012
11 Bethalto 94.56% 9,414
12 Washington 94.4% 16,008
13 Geneseo 94.38% 6,774
14 Glencoe 93.48% 8,824
15 Hampshire 93.42% 8,019
16 Princeton 93.21% 7,750
17 Bartonville 93.19% 6,005
18 Mount Carmel 93.14% 6,937
19 Morton 93.08% 16,591
20 Mattoon 92.85% 16,982
21 Salem 92.76% 7,269
22 Chatham 92.57% 14,245
23 Carlinville 92.53% 5,719
24 Mount Zion 92.27% 6,092
25 Benton 92.23% 7,101
26 East Peoria 92.15% 22,707
27 Olney 91.99% 8,996
28 Mokena 91.76% 19,897
29 Effingham 91.45% 12,218
30 New Lenox 91.26% 26,942
31 Braidwood 91.23% 6,280
32 Godfrey 91.14% 17,812
33 Western Springs 91.14% 13,550
34 Coal City 91.05% 5,238
35 Winnetka 91.02% 12,658
36 Highland 90.95% 10,215
37 Eureka 90.88% 5,569
38 Pekin 90.78% 32,398
39 East Alton 90.73% 5,887
40 Clinton 90.61% 7,016
41 Mahomet 90.32% 9,297
42 Wood River 90.31% 10,325
43 Manhattan 89.93% 9,366
44 Troy 89.87% 10,858
45 Chillicothe 89.78% 6,272
46 Harrisburg 89.65% 8,375
47 Manteno 89.61% 8,893
48 Lemont 89.13% 17,535
49 Campton Hills 88.98% 10,468
50 Peru 88.89% 9,862
51 Northfield 88.81% 5,853
52 Rockton 88.66% 8,051
53 Johnsburg 88.17% 6,399
54 Deerfield 88.16% 19,228
55 Wilmington 87.97% 5,462
56 Quincy 87.39% 39,687
57 Sandwich 87.37% 7,182
58 Homer Glen 87.31% 24,664
59 Du Quoin 87.21% 5,842
60 Carterville 87.21% 5,839
61 Palos Heights 86.99% 12,116
62 Metropolis 86.87% 6,032
63 Lincoln 86.82% 13,217
64 Glen Carbon 86.71% 13,532
65 Peoria Heights 86.62% 5,940
66 Sycamore 86.49% 18,144
67 Herrin 86.22% 12,398
68 Milan 86.2% 5,096
69 South Beloit 85.95% 7,943
70 Marion 85.77% 16,960
71 Channahon 85.58% 13,694
72 Lakemoor 85.28% 5,816
73 Spring Grove 85.16% 5,713
74 Park Ridge 85.08% 39,562
75 Geneva 84.78% 21,472
76 Machesney Park 84.63% 22,870
77 Genoa 84.63% 5,139
78 Lake Zurich 84.45% 19,807
79 Highland Park 84.38% 30,245
80 Lake Bluff 84.18% 5,878
81 Charleston 84.09% 18,130
82 Canton 84.07% 13,701
83 Norridge 84.07% 15,294
84 Lockport 84.05% 26,070
85 Cary 84.01% 17,919
86 Maryville 83.61% 8,115
87 Edwardsville 83.5% 25,236
88 Libertyville 83.45% 20,616
89 Elburn 83.4% 5,981
90 Antioch 83.36% 14,705
91 Roscoe 83.28% 11,092
92 Barrington 83.24% 11,174
93 Morris 83.21% 14,601
94 Ottawa 83.2% 18,719
95 Batavia 82.95% 26,261
96 Winthrop Harbor 82.95% 6,728
97 Winfield 82.93% 9,852
98 Downers Grove 82.8% 50,209
99 Fox Lake 82.29% 10,945
100 Mascoutah 82.09% 8,803

How Is The Area In ?

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the whitest cities in Illinois.

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.