University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign

Geographic Region: School Districts, Elementary and Unit

School districts provide public educational services for their area’s residents..

The Census Bureau tabulates data for three types of school districts: elementary, secondary, and unified. Elementary school districts provide education to the lower grade/age levels, and secondary school districts serve upper grade/age levels. Unified school districts provide education to children of all school ages.

Source of definition: U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Geographic Terms and Concepts – School Districts (elementary, secondary, and unified)

Data available on IECAM

IECAM presents data by elementary school district and unified (or unit) school district, both of which serve young children, on the IECAM database and Regional Reports. IECAM does not present data by secondary school district. Elementary and unit school districts are contiguous and don’t overlap. There are about 750 elementary and unit school districts in the state. Taken together, they cover the entire state.

School districts can change yearly as old districts combine or split, as new districts are created, and as elementary districts merge with secondary districts to form unit districts. Therefore, the number of school districts changes from year to year and school district X in one year may not cover the same geographic area as school district X the following year.

Almost all site-based data (e.g., PFA, child care) and almost all demographic data (e.g., population) are presented by school district by IECAM. Non-site-based data (e.g., home visiting, early intervention) are not presented by school district.

magnifying glass and book on table

When a user searches by year and by school district in the basic database search, IECAM presents results only for those school districts that existed in that year. When a user searches by school district in a multiyear search, IECAM presents results for all school districts that existed in any of the years selected. If the school district did not exist in one of the selected years, an indication such as “N/A” will appear in that particular table cell.

The following abbreviations or acronyms are used for school district names on the IECAM database.

  • CCD = Community Consolidated District
  • CCSD = Consolidated Community School District
  • CUD = Community Unit District
  • CUSD = Community Unit School District
  • Elem = Elementary
  • SD = School District Illinois school districts, 2022

Map of Illinois school districts

Zoom in on the map or use the search box to find a school district. Click on the district to see its name. Gray lines are county borders. (Note that names of school districts may vary slightly between data sources/agencies.)

 Note: high school districts are not shown on this map