In 2023, the population of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area in the United States was about 9.26 million people. This was a slight decrease from the previous year, which was about 9.27 million.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Chicago metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Employed Persons in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (MSA) (LAUMT171698000000005) from Jan 1990 to Apr 2025 about Chicago, IL, IN, WI, household survey, employment, persons, and USA.

In 2023, the metropolitan area of New York-Newark-Jersey City had the biggest population in the United States. Based on annual estimates from the census, the metropolitan area had around 19.5 million inhabitants, which was a slight decrease from the previous year. The Los Angeles and Chicago metro areas rounded out the top three. What is a metropolitan statistical area? In general, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a core urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants – the smallest MSA is Carson City, with an estimated population of nearly 56,000. The urban area is made bigger by adjacent communities that are socially and economically linked to the center. MSAs are particularly helpful in tracking demographic change over time in large communities and allow officials to see where the largest pockets of inhabitants are in the country. How many MSAs are in the United States? There were 421 metropolitan statistical areas across the U.S. as of July 2021. The largest city in each MSA is designated the principal city and will be the first name in the title. An additional two cities can be added to the title, and these will be listed in population order based on the most recent census. So, in the example of New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York has the highest population, while Jersey City has the lowest. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts an official population count every ten years, and the new count is expected to be announced by the end of 2030.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (MSA) (LAUMT171698000000006A) from 1990 to 2024 about Chicago, IL, IN, civilian, WI, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (MSA) (LAUMT171698000000003A) from 1990 to 2024 about Chicago, IL, IN, WI, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployed Persons in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (MSA) (LAUMT171698000000004) from Jan 1990 to Apr 2025 about Chicago, IL, IN, WI, household survey, unemployment, persons, and USA.

In 2023, the GDP of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area amounted to 725.75 billion chained 2017 U.S. dollars. The GDP of the United States since 1990 can be accessed here. Economic growth and unemployment in Chicago Economic growth in Chicago, measured by the growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was significant in the years between 2001 and 2022. This growth occurred in a period of growth for cities nationally as seen by growth of other major American cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. In contrast to Chicago’s growth, San Francisco’s growth rate demonstrated the effect of a new and booming industry. The influence of technology and internet companies saw San Francisco grow nearly 68 percent in comparison to the 47 percent growth in GDP achieved by Chicago. As a result, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ranked third in Gross Metropolitan Product of the United States, by metropolitan area in 2022. The drop in GDP output in 2020 can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This statistic shows the population of the top twenty largest urban agglomerations in the United States from 2018 to 2035. By 2035, the population of the New York-Newark agglomeration is projected to be roughly 20.8 million people.

The two countries with the greatest shares of the world's Jewish population are the United States and Israel. The United States had been a hub of Jewish immigration since the nineteenth century, as Jewish people sought to escape persecution in Europe by emigrating across the Atlantic. The Jewish population in the U.S. is largely congregated in major urban areas, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, with the New York metropolitan area being the city with the second largest Jewish population worldwide, after Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel is the world's only officially Jewish state, having been founded in 1948 following the first Arab-Israeli War. While Jews had been emigrating to the holy lands since the nineteenth century, when they were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, immigration increased rapidly following the establishment of the state of Israel. Jewish communities in Eastern Europe who had survived the Holocaust saw Israel as a haven from persecution, while the state encouraged immigration from Jewish communities in other regions, notably the Middle East & North Africa. Smaller Jewish communities remain in Europe in countries such as France, the UK, and Germany, and in other countries which were hotspots for Jewish migration in the twentieth century, such as Canada and Argentina.