University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign

Illinois Young Children by the Numbers (2022 Edition)

Published: June 22, 2022

Here's a chance to test your early childhood data knowledge and find out more about demographic resources and tools available on the IECAM website. Remember, for demographic data, the Census Bureau releases its final and complete data for a given year between one and two years (depending on the geographic region) after the target year. For example, demographic data for 2019 appeared near the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021. Also note that 2020 data was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore not all visualizations on the website have been updated. 

Number of children in Illinois age 5 and under in 2020: 894,769

Percent of total population: 7.04%

More data like this please!

Number of children in Illinois age 2 and under in 2020: 445,463

Percent of total population: 3.5%

Find the number for smaller geographic areas in Illinois (such as county, school district, municipality, etc.)

Illinois counties with birth rates that have increased by more than 30 (per 1,000 women) since 2010: Brown, Cass, Douglas, Edwards, Fayette, Henderson, Marshall, Moultrie, Pope, Stark, Wabash, and Washington.

See our birth rate map

Percent of children age 5 and under living in families with incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL) in 2020: 17.5%

(In 2020, 100% FPL was $26,200 for a family of four.)

Find numbers for smaller geographic areas in Illinois

Percent of children under age 5 whose race/ethnicity is reported as "Hispanic or Latino" in 2020: 23.5%

Percent of children under age 5 whose race/ethnicity is reported as "Black or African American, Non-Hispanic or Latino" in 2020: 15.5%

Percent of children under age 5 whose race/ethnicity is reported as "Two or More Races, Non-Hispanic or Latino" in 2020: 4.8%

See an interactive map

Number of children age 5 and under living with two working parents in 2019: 368,934, in 2020: 371,893 

Percent of children age 5 and under living with two working parents in 2019: 40.6%, in 2020: 41.6%

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Percent of children age 5 and under living in grandparent-headed households in 2020: 9.95%

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Source: IECAM demographers prepared estimates of population based on Census Bureau estimates from the Population Estimates Program and the American Community Survey (ACS), 5-year estimates