West Chicago, Illinois
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1908 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Winfield Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60185. The Survey maps it on the West Chicago quadrangle. 25,614 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 755 feet above sea level.
On record in West Chicago
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
McAuley School District No. 27listed 1982
Turner Town Halllisted 1991
Population over time
2 figuresWest Chicago fell from 27,086 to 25,614 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 | 27,086 | |
| 2020 | 25,614 | -1,472 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 20 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.
- 1908 USGS Wheaton quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1948 USGS Wheaton quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS West Chicago quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Wheaton quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS West Chicago quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1985 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS West Chicago quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS West Chicago quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
2,392 words on this townshipHistory Of Dupage County (1857), published 1857 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.
The chapter on Winfield Township covers the township.
Read the chapter on Winfield Township - 2,392 words.
Fires near this place
1 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of West Chicago in 2014, burning about 5 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-177 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of West Chicago: 2 plants, 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Vermiculite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zonolite Chicago Plant | Vermiculite | Plant | ||
| East Riverdale Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| Warrenville Plant & Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
31 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Chicago in 31 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 19 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 lightning. The reports record 40 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | 40 hurt, $500,000 | The roof of a warehouse above two of four loading docks, gave way. Forty people were injured, seven of which had to go the hospital. |
| August 2001 | Lightning | West Chicago | $25,000 | Lightning struck a house and started a fire in the attic and roof. |
| March 2026 | Hail | West Chicago | - | A video showed quarter to half dollar size hail near the DuPage Airport. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A small carport was lofted and thrown 100 feet into a fence near West Chicago. Large tree branches were downed in the area as well. |
| June 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | West Chicago | - | This tornado began in the Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville and tracked southeastward through the south side of Wheaton before lifting soon after it entered the Morton Arboretum. The tornado primarily caused tree damage along its path, though it also caused some minor damage to signs at a shopping center. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A large tree limb was blown down on Fremont Street. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A roughly 2 foot diameter tree was blown down in the 700 block of Elmwood Avenue, blocking the road. A 14 inch diameter tree limb was blown down just south of Elmwood Avenue. A 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limb was blown down in the 500 block of Elite Avenue. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Emergency management relayed a photo of a snapped tree branch at least 12 inches in diameter from a healthy tree. |
| July 2023 | Hail | West Chicago | - | Emergency management reported one inch hail near IL Rt 59 and Washington Ave in West Chicago. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Tree limbs 3 inches in diameter were blown down. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Photos showed roof damage to a house on Elizabeth Street. A utility pole was damaged near the West Chicago High School. Numerous tree limbs were snapped off over several blocks of southern West Chicago, including some tree limbs one foot in diameter. One tree had almost all limbs removed from the top half. A flag pole was bent 35 degrees. Wind speeds were estimated to 75 mph. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A utility pole was broken and power lines were blown down. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A large tree was blown down. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A one foot diameter tree limb was blown down blocking George Street. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | West Chicago | - | Around three feet of standing water was reported on Ann Street west of Joliet Street near Community High School. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Tree limbs were blown down along with 75 feet of wooden fence. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Several trees were blown down. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | One foot diameter tree blown down. |
| July 2007 | Flood | West Chicago | - | Four to five inches of standing water Route 59 and Route 64. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Large tree blown down at Route 59 and Geneva Road. |
| July 2006 | Hail | West Chicago | - | Penny size hail was reported at Route 59 and Route 64. |
| September 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Many large trees and power lines were blown down across much of the downtown area. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Large tree limbs were down. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | DuPage EOC reported a 58 mph wind gust and a 52 mph wind gust was reported at the DuPage airport. Strong winds downed trees. |
| April 2020 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Funnel Cloud | West Chicago | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ingalton | 1.5 miles | 20 | |
| Prince Crossing | 1.7 miles | 20 | |
| Lakewood | 2.2 miles | 20 | |
| Winfield | 2.8 miles | 20 | |
| Geneva Road | 2.8 miles | 20 | |
| Jewell Road | 3.6 miles | 20 | |
| Carol Stream | 4.1 miles | 20 | |
| Warrenhurst | 4.3 miles | 20 |
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 West Chicago | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q580487 | 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 422146. 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.









