Gurnee, Illinois
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Warren Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60031. The Survey maps it on the Libertyville quadrangle. 30,706 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 679 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresGurnee fell from 31,295 to 30,706 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 31,295 | |
| 2020 | 30,706 | -589 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 19 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1906 USGS Waukegan quadrangle1:62500
- 1908 USGS Waukegan quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Racine quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Libertyville quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1960 USGS Waukegan quadrangle1:62500
- 1962 USGS Racine quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Waukegan quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Libertyville quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Libertyville quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
838 words on this townshipThe Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, published 1877 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.
The chapter on Warren Township covers the township.
Read the chapter on Warren Township - 838 words.
Fires near this place
4 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Gurnee between 2003 and 2018, burning about 451 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 July 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 12_2571 |
| 1 June 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 60118 |
| 8 May 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-1522 |
| 28 April 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | ZION |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Gurnee: 5 past producers, 2 producers, 1 plant. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium), Tungsten, Iodine. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbotts North Chicago Iodine Plant | Iodine | Plant | ||
| Fansteel #1 Tantalum Plant | Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium), Tungsten | Producer | ||
| Economy Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gurnee Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gurnee Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lake County Pit No. 1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Lake County Pit No. 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Wadsworth Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
21 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gurnee in 21 storm reports between 2004 and 2026: 6 hail, 5 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gurnee | $5,000 | Tree limbs were blown onto a car on Grand Avenue. |
| April 2026 | Flood | Gurnee | - | A few inches of standing water on the road were reported north of Gurnee and west of Zion. |
| June 2025 | Heavy Rain | Gurnee | - | A report of 1.09 of rain in 30 minutes came out of Gurnee. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gurnee | - | Power lines were blown down at Washington Street and Six Flags Drive. |
| May 2020 | Flash Flood | Gurnee | - | Route 41 near Route 132 was closed due to flooding. |
| September 2019 | Flash Flood | Gurnee | - | The intersection of Sunset Avenue and Delaney Road was flooded, impassable and closed. |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gurnee | - | Power line damage was reported in Gurnee. |
| May 2018 | Flood | Gurnee | - | Route 132 was closed due to flooding between O'Plaine Road and 1st Street. Rainfall of 1.79 inches was reported in Gurnee and 2.13 inches was reported two miles west of Gurnee. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Gurnee | - | Rainfall of 1.93 inches was reported in one hour. |
| June 2017 | Heavy Rain | Gurnee | - | Heavy rainfall of 1.94 inches was reported in 1 hour and 45 minutes. |
| May 2014 | Flash Flood | Gurnee | - | Grand Avenue was closed at 1st Street. High water was reported under a railroad overpass just west of 1st Street. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gurnee | - | A 15-inch diameter tree was uprooted by winds estimated to 70 mph. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gurnee | - | Large branches were blown off trees. Winds were estimated to 60 mph. |
| June 2009 | Flash Flood | Gurnee | - | Grand Avenue at Skokie Highway was closed due to flooding. One mile west of Gurnee, 2.01 inches of rain was reported, along with some street flooding. |
| September 2005 | Hail | Gurnee | - | Quarter size hail was reported at Almond and Dada. |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | Gurnee | - | Street flooding occurred. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Gurnee | - | no account filed |
| May 2025 | Hail | Gurnee | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Gurnee | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Gurnee | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Gurnee | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chittenden | 0.6 miles | 17 | |
| Spaulding Corners | 1.1 miles | 19 | |
| Park City | 1.8 miles | 19 | |
| Dillys Corners | 2.0 miles | 17 | |
| Sherman Corners | 2.9 miles | 19 | |
| Waukegan | 3.1 miles | 18 | |
| Grange Hall | 3.3 miles | 19 | |
| Lambs Corners | 3.4 miles | 17 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Gurnee | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q277066 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 409577. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








