Chicago — UN urban centre
Chicago: 3,683,385 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #125 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 7747; territory: United States (USA). UN source workbook.
Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.
Source centroid: 41.8726, -87.7075. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 3,448,323 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 3,439,335 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 3,449,897 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 3,447,877 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 3,617,401 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 3,740,069 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 3,687,152 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 3,615,170 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 3,617,491 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 3,705,329 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 3,683,385 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 3,667,276 | Projection |
| 2035 | 3,654,300 | Projection |
| 2040 | 3,634,179 | Projection |
| 2045 | 3,615,329 | Projection |
| 2050 | 3,585,359 | Projection |
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This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.