One thing noticeable about Chicago, is that it has a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. That’s because Chicago is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Chicago a great place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun. In fact, Chicago is one of the top larger cities in America for educated single professionals to flock.
In Chicago, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 34.71 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.
One of the benefits of being a big city like Chicago is having a public transportation system, but in Chicago the transit system is the mode of choice for lots of people getting to and from work every day. You will find many people using the bus for their daily commute, even though other transportation options exist. If you ask these commuters, many will tell you that not having to drive in the snarl of big city traffic is one of main reasons for leaving the car at home, or even not owning a car at all. With so many people taking the bus Chicago benefits from a reduction in air pollution and traffic.
Chicago is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 42.43% of adults in Chicago have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in Chicago in 2022 was $45,840, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $183,360 for a family of four. However, Chicago contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Chicago is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Chicago home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Chicago residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Chicago also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 28.95% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Chicago include German, Irish, Polish, Italian, and English.
In addition, Chicago has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (20.24%).
The most common language spoken in Chicago is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
