Is being in an area of Illinois that’s growing quickly a good thing or a bad thing?
Depends on who you ask.
Some want bigger, more exciting cities like Chicago and Aurora, while others want peace and quiet like in Eureka and Pinckneyville, thank you very much.
But today, we’re going to put opinions aside and look at the cold, hard facts — since 2010, which cities in Illinois have grown the fastest.
After getting knee-deep in the Census’s American Community Survey using Saturday Night Science, we emerged with this set of cities in the Prairie State that have people climbing over each other to get in.
Illinois lost a net 40,017 people to other states in the year ending July 2025 — 49th in the nation for domestic migration; the full moving statistics breakdown shows who’s coming and going.
260.7% growth since 2010 · 4,847 net new residents
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
188.7% growth since 2010 · 7,134 net new residents
Located in
Kane County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
69.3% growth since 2010 · 4,515 net new residents
Located in
Will County, Illinois
Manhattan is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,071 at the 2006 special census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population to be 7,093 as of 2011. The community is located in northeastern Illinois approximately 50 miles southwest of Chicago.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
67.1% growth since 2010 · 3,423 net new residents
Located in
Kane County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
56.8% growth since 2010 · 8,552 net new residents
Located in
Kendall County, Illinois
Yorkville is a city partially in Kendall and Kane counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,189 at the 2000 United States Census and had grown to 16,921 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Kendall County. Yorkville is in the center of Kendall County, the fastest-growing county in Illinois and according to recent statistics released in June 2010, by CNN, is the fastest-growing county in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
46.7% growth since 2010 · 2,740 net new residents
Located in
Kane County, Illinois
Gilberts is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,279 at the 2000 census. The population has grown to 6,879 according to the 2010 census. The population continues to grow at rapid rates.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
45.9% growth since 2010 · 3,161 net new residents
Located in
Champaign County, Illinois
Mahomet is a town in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,258 at the 2010 census. Mahomet is located approximately ten miles west of Champaign at the junction of Interstate 74 and IL 47.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
40.4% growth since 2010 · 2,580 net new residents
Located in
Champaign County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
35.4% growth since 2010 · 3,369 net new residents
Located in
Will County, Illinois
Minooka, a suburb of Chicago, is a village in Grundy, Kendall, and Will counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,924 at the 2010 census. Minooka currently has two high schools in its district, a campus for juniors and seniors and a newer campus for freshmen and sophomores. Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 has a total of seven schools and serves nearly 4000 students. Minooka has continuously been growing and has many new subdivisions. The Rock Island Line served the town at Minooka Station.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
34.8% growth since 2010 · 5,558 net new residents
Located in
Kendall County, Illinois
Montgomery is a village in Kane and Kendall counties, Illinois. The population was 5,471 at the 2000 census, while the 2010 census lists Montgomery’s population at 18,438. This is a 237 percent increase from 2000, making Montgomery the 9th fastest growing municipality in Illinois during this period.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Illinois’s growth is happening
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Measured The Fastest Growing Cities In the Prairie State for 2026
To figure out which cities are growing the most, we used Saturday Night Science to look at the growth rates for cities since the beginning of the decade, according to the American Community Survey put out by the census every year. Specifically:
- Current Population
- Population in 2010
- Growth rate from 2010 to Current (the latest available data, which came out in Dec 2024)
We ranked all 330 Illinois cities with a population over 5,000 people from highest growth rate to lowest.
The city with the highest growth rate during this time was crowned the fastest-growing city in the Prairie State.
And for those of you who are a little rusty with their statistics, you can calculate the growth rate by the following formula: [Current Population – Population 2010] / [Population 2010].
The data has been updated for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the fastest growing cities in Illinois.
The full plate
Fastest Growing Places In Illinois For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Population 2010 | Growth | Absolute Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volo | 6,706 | 1,859 | 260.7% | 4,847 |
| 2 | Pingree Grove | 10,914 | 3,780 | 188.7% | 7,134 |
| 3 | Manhattan | 11,026 | 6,511 | 69.3% | 4,515 |
| 4 | Hampshire | 8,524 | 5,101 | 67.1% | 3,423 |
| 5 | Yorkville | 23,617 | 15,065 | 56.8% | 8,552 |
| 6 | Gilberts | 8,606 | 5,866 | 46.7% | 2,740 |
| 7 | Mahomet | 10,049 | 6,888 | 45.9% | 3,161 |
| 8 | Savoy | 8,968 | 6,388 | 40.4% | 2,580 |
| 9 | Minooka | 12,891 | 9,522 | 35.4% | 3,369 |
| 10 | Montgomery | 21,515 | 15,957 | 34.8% | 5,558 |
| 11 | Huntley | 28,005 | 21,261 | 31.7% | 6,744 |
| 12 | Chatham | 14,639 | 11,120 | 31.6% | 3,519 |
| 13 | Oswego | 36,375 | 27,719 | 31.2% | 8,656 |
| 14 | Plainfield | 46,708 | 35,708 | 30.8% | 11,000 |
| 15 | Plano | 12,203 | 9,472 | 28.8% | 2,731 |
| 16 | Shorewood | 18,343 | 14,718 | 24.6% | 3,625 |
| 17 | Hawthorn Woods | 9,143 | 7,405 | 23.5% | 1,738 |
| 18 | Mascoutah | 8,816 | 7,191 | 22.6% | 1,625 |
| 19 | Shiloh | 14,572 | 12,015 | 21.3% | 2,557 |
| 20 | Monticello | 6,304 | 5,202 | 21.2% | 1,102 |
| 21 | Frankfort | 20,651 | 17,056 | 21.1% | 3,595 |
| 22 | Elburn | 6,354 | 5,310 | 19.7% | 1,044 |
| 23 | Troy | 11,647 | 9,745 | 19.5% | 1,902 |
| 24 | O’Fallon | 32,262 | 27,044 | 19.3% | 5,218 |
| 25 | North Aurora | 18,696 | 15,680 | 19.2% | 3,016 |
| 26 | Maryville | 8,316 | 7,029 | 18.3% | 1,287 |
| 27 | Columbia | 11,127 | 9,469 | 17.5% | 1,658 |
| 28 | New Lenox | 28,006 | 23,946 | 17.0% | 4,060 |
| 29 | Lemont | 17,820 | 15,320 | 16.3% | 2,500 |
| 30 | Waterloo | 11,129 | 9,640 | 15.4% | 1,489 |
| 31 | Round Lake | 18,628 | 16,163 | 15.3% | 2,465 |
| 32 | South Barrington | 5,021 | 4,385 | 14.5% | 636 |
| 33 | South Elgin | 24,217 | 21,235 | 14.0% | 2,982 |
| 34 | Channahon | 13,927 | 12,215 | 14.0% | 1,712 |
| 35 | Swansea | 14,710 | 12,941 | 13.7% | 1,769 |
| 36 | Glen Carbon | 13,977 | 12,304 | 13.6% | 1,673 |
| 37 | Spring Grove | 5,917 | 5,214 | 13.5% | 703 |
| 38 | Champaign | 89,996 | 79,430 | 13.3% | 10,566 |
| 39 | Edwardsville | 26,474 | 23,450 | 12.9% | 3,024 |
| 40 | Lincolnshire | 7,980 | 7,077 | 12.8% | 903 |
| 41 | Sugar Grove | 9,240 | 8,202 | 12.7% | 1,038 |
| 42 | Lake Barrington | 5,442 | 4,840 | 12.4% | 602 |
| 43 | Lakemoor | 6,467 | 5,765 | 12.2% | 702 |
| 44 | West Dundee | 7,906 | 7,078 | 11.7% | 828 |
| 45 | Winfield | 10,095 | 9,041 | 11.7% | 1,054 |
| 46 | Itasca | 9,355 | 8,390 | 11.5% | 965 |
| 47 | Warrenville | 14,718 | 13,214 | 11.4% | 1,504 |
| 48 | Harvard | 9,598 | 8,621 | 11.3% | 977 |
| 49 | Lockport | 26,409 | 23,844 | 10.8% | 2,565 |
| 50 | Sycamore | 18,559 | 16,800 | 10.5% | 1,759 |
| 51 | Mokena | 20,021 | 18,164 | 10.2% | 1,857 |
| 52 | Vernon Hills | 26,876 | 24,388 | 10.2% | 2,488 |
| 53 | Washington | 15,919 | 14,456 | 10.1% | 1,463 |
| 54 | Morris | 14,898 | 13,533 | 10.1% | 1,365 |
| 55 | Antioch | 14,859 | 13,519 | 9.9% | 1,340 |
| 56 | Willow Springs | 5,868 | 5,344 | 9.8% | 524 |
| 57 | Romeoville | 41,152 | 37,484 | 9.8% | 3,668 |
| 58 | Round Lake Park | 7,919 | 7,232 | 9.5% | 687 |
| 59 | Rockton | 7,974 | 7,287 | 9.4% | 687 |
| 60 | Glenview | 47,752 | 43,649 | 9.4% | 4,103 |
| 61 | Highland | 10,262 | 9,416 | 9.0% | 846 |
| 62 | Carterville | 5,818 | 5,345 | 8.8% | 473 |
| 63 | North Riverside | 7,249 | 6,660 | 8.8% | 589 |
| 64 | Mount Zion | 5,660 | 5,244 | 7.9% | 416 |
| 65 | Wauconda | 14,027 | 13,009 | 7.8% | 1,018 |
| 66 | Hillsboro | 5,803 | 5,382 | 7.8% | 421 |
| 67 | Countryside | 6,267 | 5,817 | 7.7% | 450 |
| 68 | Morton Grove | 24,619 | 22,868 | 7.7% | 1,751 |
| 69 | Elgin | 114,934 | 106,837 | 7.6% | 8,097 |
| 70 | River Forest | 11,992 | 11,166 | 7.4% | 826 |
| 71 | Norridge | 15,439 | 14,414 | 7.1% | 1,025 |
| 72 | Woodstock | 26,147 | 24,414 | 7.1% | 1,733 |
| 73 | Naperville | 150,692 | 140,838 | 7.0% | 9,854 |
| 74 | Silvis | 7,955 | 7,435 | 7.0% | 520 |
| 75 | Willowbrook | 9,131 | 8,546 | 6.8% | 585 |
| 76 | Western Springs | 13,446 | 12,657 | 6.2% | 789 |
| 77 | Burr Ridge | 11,141 | 10,505 | 6.1% | 636 |
| 78 | Deerfield | 19,518 | 18,405 | 6.0% | 1,113 |
| 79 | Beach Park | 14,115 | 13,315 | 6.0% | 800 |
| 80 | McHenry | 28,074 | 26,518 | 5.9% | 1,556 |
| 81 | Fox Lake | 11,131 | 10,515 | 5.9% | 616 |
| 82 | Manteno | 9,030 | 8,551 | 5.6% | 479 |
| 83 | Long Grove | 8,305 | 7,866 | 5.6% | 439 |
| 84 | Lincolnwood | 13,112 | 12,422 | 5.6% | 690 |
| 85 | Bloomington | 78,907 | 74,864 | 5.4% | 4,043 |
| 86 | Roscoe | 10,706 | 10,164 | 5.3% | 542 |
| 87 | Stickney | 6,952 | 6,608 | 5.2% | 344 |
| 88 | South Beloit | 7,946 | 7,559 | 5.1% | 387 |
| 89 | Orland Park | 57,916 | 55,098 | 5.1% | 2,818 |
| 90 | Northbrook | 34,585 | 32,922 | 5.1% | 1,663 |
| 91 | Lisle | 23,407 | 22,288 | 5.0% | 1,119 |
| 92 | Matteson | 18,645 | 17,756 | 5.0% | 889 |
| 93 | Schaumburg | 76,868 | 73,333 | 4.8% | 3,535 |
| 94 | Batavia | 27,151 | 25,924 | 4.7% | 1,227 |
| 95 | Clarendon Hills | 8,659 | 8,275 | 4.6% | 384 |
| 96 | Woodridge | 33,941 | 32,475 | 4.5% | 1,466 |
| 97 | Downers Grove | 50,054 | 47,938 | 4.4% | 2,116 |
| 98 | Elmhurst | 45,671 | 43,753 | 4.4% | 1,918 |
| 99 | Bridgeview | 16,849 | 16,144 | 4.4% | 705 |
| 100 | Harwood Heights | 8,821 | 8,462 | 4.2% | 359 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS, 2010-current. 330 Illinois cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: These Places Grew Up So Fast In Illinois, You Know?
So there you have it, the fastest growing cities in Illinois are led by Volo which has been growing at a blistering pace this decade relative to other cities and towns around the state.
The fastest-growing cities in Illinois are Volo, Pingree Grove, Manhattan, Hampshire, Yorkville, Gilberts, Mahomet, Savoy, Minooka, and Montgomery.
It’ll be interesting to see if these places can keep growing at the same rate over the next couple of years. We’ll be here to let you know! Not sold on Illinois? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
