Cities with the Highest Poverty Rate in Illinois

The top 25 of 70 Illinois cities on GIS Map, ranked by the share of residents below the poverty level.

#	City	County	Below poverty level	Population
1	Carbondale	Jackson	37.4%	22,158
2	East St. Louis	St. Clair	32.8%	17,999
3	Urbana	Champaign	28%	39,341
4	Charleston	Coles	26.3%	17,062
5	Champaign	Champaign	25.9%	89,996
6	Champaign-Urbana	Champaign	25.9%	89,996
7	Kankakee	Kankakee	25.5%	23,996
8	Macomb	McDonough	25.1%	14,894
9	DeKalb	DeKalb	24.9%	40,443
10	Danville	Vermilion	24.5%	28,595
11	Calumet City	Cook	23.4%	35,100
12	Normal	McLean	21.4%	53,569
13	Mattoon	Coles	21.3%	16,586
14	Rockford	Winnebago	21.3%	147,521
15	Alton	Madison	21%	25,279
16	Peoria	Peoria	21%	112,169
17	Freeport	Stephenson	19.6%	23,505
18	Decatur	Macon	19.4%	69,815
19	Galesburg	Knox	19.1%	29,481
20	LaSalle	LaSalle	18.8%	9,498
21	Ottawa	LaSalle	17.3%	18,447
22	Chicago	Cook	16.8%	2,711,226
23	Springfield	Sangamon	16.8%	113,330
24	Quincy	Adams	16.7%	39,109
25	Sterling	Whiteside	15.3%	14,717

Top Illinois Counties

Counties ranked by the share of residents below the poverty level.

1. Pulaski County25%2. Jackson County21%3. Schuyler County20.8%4. Union County20.2%5. Champaign County19.1%6. Alexander County19%7. Saline County18.9%8. Coles County18.7%9. Vermilion County17.7%10. Johnson County17.6%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Only cities covered by GIS Map with at least 1,000 residents are ranked. Estimates carry margins of error.

Citing this page: GIS Map, “Cities with the Highest Poverty Rate in Illinois”, https://gismap.land/rankings/illinois/highest-poverty-cities. Figures from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Cities with the Highest Poverty Rate in Illinois

Top Illinois Counties

More Illinois rankings