Kane County, Illinois


Kane County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 516,522, making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora. Kane County is one of the collar counties of the metropolitan statistical area designated "Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI" by the US census.
WWW countyofkane.org

History

Kane County was formed out of LaSalle County in 1836. The county was named in honor of Elias Kane, a United States senator and the first secretary of state of Illinois.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county's area was, of which is land and is water. Its largest cities are along the Fox River.

Climate

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Geneva have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. The average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.

Parks and recreation

Forest preserves

Notable forest preserves include:

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 516,522, the median age was 38.3 years, 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18, and 14.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males overall and 95.9 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 60.0% White, 5.3% Black or African American, 1.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 16.2% from some other race, and 12.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 32.8% of the population.
96.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 4.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 180,374 households in the county, of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.4% were married-couple households, 15.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 188,510 housing units, of which 4.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.7% were owner-occupied and 26.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.2%.

Racial and ethnic composition

Race / Ethnicity Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020
White alone 235,709250,551273,390304,051282,30784.66%78.92%67.65%59.01%54.66%
Black or African American alone 13,43518,35322,47727,81926,2394.83%5.78%5.56%5.40%5.08%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 4604975365915140.17%0.16%0.13%0.11%0.10%
Asian alone 1,6944,2277,14217,50521,1910.61%1.33%1.77%3.40%4.10%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone xx57130115xx0.01%0.03%0.02%
Other race alone 9893083385221,5210.36%0.10%0.08%0.10%0.29%
Mixed race or Multiracial xx4,2556,26115,040xx1.05%1.22%2.91%
Hispanic or Latino 26,11843,53595,924158,390169,5959.38%13.71%23.74%30.74%32.83%
Total278,405317,471404,119515,269516,522 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 515,269 people, 170,479 households, and 128,323 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 182,047 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 74.6% white, 5.7% black or African American, 3.5% Asian, 0.6% American Indian, 13.0% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 30.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.3% were German, 13.0% were Irish, 7.9% were Polish, 7.4% were Italian, 7.1% were English, and 2.4% were American.
Of the 170,479 households, 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.7% were non-families, and 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.45. The median age was 34.5 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $67,767 and the median income for a family was $77,998. Males had a median income of $53,833 versus $39,206 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,480. About 7.0% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Infrastructure

Health care

There are several hospitals serving the county:

Transportation

Transit

MetraBNSF LineMilwaukee District West LineUnion Pacific West LinePace

Airport

Major highways

Kane county has an extensive county highway system that includes federal, state and county maintained routes. During the years that the county was represented by Dennis Hastert it received many federal earmarks for highway improvements to respond to population growth. In addition, the county has entered into an agreement with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to operate a limited access toll bridge on the Longmeadow Parkway that is not connected to any other tollway.
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Communities

Cities

Villages

Census-designated place

Other unincorporated communities

Townships

Government

Kane County Board

Kane County services are overseen by a 24 member Board which is elected every two years. The Board's chair is elected every four years. The Board sets the County's budget. Corrine Michelle Pierog is the current County Board Chair. There are currently 16 Democrats and 8 Republicans on the Board.
In addition to the Board chair, there are nine county officeholders elected countywide every four years. These positions are the Auditor, Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Coroner, Recorder, Regional Office of Education Superintendent, Sheriff, State's Attorney, and Treasurer.

Current elected officials

PartyOfficeNamePartyServing Until
Kane County ClerkJohn "Jack" A. CunninghamRepublican2026
SheriffRon HainDemocratic2026
TreasurerChris LauzenRepublican2026
Board ChairCorinne M. PierogDemocratic2024
Circuit ClerkTheresa BarreiroDemocratic2024
AuditorPenny WegmanDemocratic2024
CoronerL. Robert RussellRepublican2024
RecorderSandy WegmanRepublican2024
State's AttorneyJamie MosserDemocratic2024

16th Circuit

Kane County is coterminous with the 16th Judicial Circuit. The 16th Judicial Circuit is divided into four subcircuits. The first subcircuit consists of the majority of Aurora Township. The second subcircuit consists of most of Elgin and Dundee townships. The fourth subcircuit consists the tri-cities area of Batavia, Geneva, and Saint Charles. The third subcircuit consists of all territory not included in the other three subcircuits, which corresponds to an area of roughly the western two thirds of the county.

Politics

As one of the Yankee-settled and prosperous suburban "collar counties", Kane County was a stronghold of the Free Soil Party in its first few elections, being one of nine Illinois counties to give a plurality to Martin van Buren in 1848. Kane County then unsurprisingly became solidly Republican for the century and a half following that party's formation. It voted for the GOP presidential nominee in every election between 1856 and 2004 except that of 1912 when the Republican Party was mortally divided and Progressive candidate Theodore Roosevelt carried the county with a majority of the vote over conservative incumbent William Howard Taft.
The gradual shift of the GOP towards white Southern Evangelicals, however, has led the generally moderate electorate of Kane and the other "collar counties" to trend towards the Democratic Party. In 2008, Senator Barack Obama became the first Democrat to carry Kane County since Franklin Pierce in 1852, and the first ever to win an absolute majority of the county's vote. Obama won a plurality in 2012, and Hillary Clinton improved upon Obama's showing to become the second Democrat to win a majority in 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden had the best performance ever by a Democrat in the county, even besting Obama's 2008 victory.
Kane County is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrats Bill Foster, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Lauren Underwood.

Notable people