Outdoor Advertising Billboards for Rent in Cook county, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. According to 2007 US Census Bureau estimates, the county has 5,285,107 residents, which is larger than the populations of 29 individual U.S. states, the combined populations of the six smallest US states, and home to 43.3% of Illinois residents. There are over 130 incorporated municipalities in Cook County, the largest of which is the county seat, Chicago, which makes up approximately 54% of the population of the county. The county is divided into thirty different townships. Geographically the county is the fifth largest in Illinois by land area and shares the state's coast line on Lake Michigan with Lake County.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	10,201		—
1850	43,385		325.3%
1860	144,954		234.1%
1870	349,966		141.4%
1880	607,524		73.6%
1890	1,191,922		96.2%
1900	1,838,735		54.3%
1910	2,405,233		30.8%
1920	3,053,017		26.9%
1930	3,982,123		30.4%
1940	4,063,342		2.0%
1950	4,508,792		11.0%
1960	5,129,725		13.8%
1970	5,492,369		7.1%
1980	5,253,655		−4.3%
1990	5,105,067		−2.8%
2000	5,376,741		5.3%
Est. 2008	5,294,664		−1.5%

As of the 2000 Census, there were 5,376,741 people, 1,974,181 households, and 1,269,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 5,686 people per square mile (2,195/km²). There were 2,096,121 housing units at an average density of 2,216 per square mile (856/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 56.27% White, 26.14% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 4.84% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 9.88% from other races, and 2.53% from two or more races. 19.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 9.1% were of Polish, 8.1% German, 7.9% Irish and 5.7% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 17.63% reported speaking Spanish at home; 3.13% speak Polish [1].

2005 Census estimates placed the non-Hispanic white population of Cook County at 45.4% of the total population of the county. Other racial groups were African-Americans at 26.4%, Latinos at 22.2% and Asians at 5.5%. 2006 estimates showed the non-Hispanic white percentage of the population at 44.7%.

According to the 2000 Census there were 1,974,181 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,922, and the median income for a family was $53,784. Males had a median income of $40,690 versus $31,298 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,227. About 10.6% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

According to Census Bureau estimates, the county's population was down to 5,303,683 in 2005.