Kane County, Illinois

Kane County, Illinois
Kane County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 516,522, making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora. Kane County is one of the collar counties of the metropolitan statistical area designated "Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI" by the US census.
History
Kane County was formed out of LaSalle County in 1836. The county was named in honor of Elias Kane, a United States senator and the first secretary of state of Illinois.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county's area was , of which is land and (0.8%) is water. Its largest cities are along the Fox River.
Climate
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Geneva have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. The average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.
Adjacent counties
McHenry County (north)
Cook County (east)
DuPage County (east)
Will County (southeast)
Kendall County (south)
DeKalb County (west)
Parks and recreation
Fox River Trail
Great Western Trail
Illinois Prairie Path
James "Pate" Philip State Park
Forest preserves
Kane County has an extensive forest preserve program, with numerous nature preserves, historic sites, and trails.
Almon Underwood Prairie
Andersen Woods
Arlene Shoemaker
Aurora West
Barnes
Big Rock Forest Preserve & Campground
Binnie Forest Preserve
Blackberry Maples
Bliss Woods
Bolcum Road Wetlands
Bowes Creek Greenway Forest Preserve
Bowes Creek Woods Forest Preserve
Braeburn Marsh
Brewster Creek Forest Preserve
Brunner Family
Buffalo Park Forest Preserve
Burlington Prairie
Burnidge Forest Preserve/Paul Wolff Campground
Camp Tomo Chi-Chi Knolls
Campton
Cardinal Creek
Culver
Deer Valley Golf Course
Dick Young
Eagles Forest Preserve
Edgewater Greenway Forest Preserve
Elburn Forest Preserve
Elgin Shores
Fabyan
Ferson Creek
Fitchie Creek
Fox River Bluff East & Fox River Bluff West
Fox River Forested Fen Forest Preserve
Fox River Shores
Freeman Kame – Meagher
Glenwood Park Forest Preserve
Grunwald Farms
Gunnar Anderson
Hampshire Forest Preserve
Hampshire South Forest Preserve
Hannaford Woods/Nickels Farm
Helm Woods
Hoscheit Woods Forest Preserve
Hughes Creek Golf Club
Jack E. Cook Park & Forest Preserve
Jelkes Creek
Johnson's Mound
Jon J. Duerr
Kenyon Farm
Lake Run Forest Preserve
LeRoy Oakes
Les Arends
Lone Grove Forest Preserve
McLean Fen Forest Preserve
Meissner Prairie – Corron
Mill Creek
Muirhead Springs
New Haven Park
Oakhurst
Otter Creek
Pingree Grove Forest Preserve
Poplar Creek
Prairie Green
Raceway Woods
Raymond Street
Regole
Rutland Forest Preserve
Sauer Family Prairie Kame
Schweitzer Woods
Settler's Hill
Sleepy Hollow Ravine
Tekakwitha Woods
Tyler Creek Forest Preserve
Virgil Forest Preserve
Voyageur's Landing
Willoughby Farms
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, there were 515,269 people, 170,479 households, and 128,323 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 182,047 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 74.6% white, 5.7% black or African American, 3.5% Asian, 0.6% American Indian, 13.0% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 30.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.3% were German, 13.0% were Irish, 7.9% were Polish, 7.4% were Italian, 7.1% were English, and 2.4% were American.
Of the 170,479 households, 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.7% were non-families, and 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.45. The median age was 34.5 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $67,767 and the median income for a family was $77,998. Males had a median income of $53,833 versus $39,206 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,480. About 7.0% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Aurora University
Elgin Community College
Judson University
Waubonsee Community College
Infrastructure
Health care
There are several hospitals serving the county:
Advocate Sherman Hospital, Elgin
Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, Geneva
Presence Mercy Medical Center, Aurora
Presence Saint Joseph Hospital, Elgin
Rush-Copley Medical Center, Aurora
Transportation
Transit
Metra
BNSF Line
Milwaukee District West Line
Union Pacific West Line
Pace
Pace I-90 Express
Airport
Aurora Municipal Airport
Major highways
Kane county has an extensive county highway system that includes federal, state and county maintained routes. During the years that the county was represented by Dennis Hastert it received many federal earmarks for highway improvements to respond to population growth. In addition, the county has entered into an agreement with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to operate a limited access toll bridge on the Longmeadow Parkway that is not connected to any other tollway.
Interstate 88
Interstate 90
U.S. Highway 20
U.S. Highway 30
U.S. Highway 34
Illinois Route 19
Illinois Route 25
Illinois Route 31
Illinois Route 38
Illinois Route 47
Illinois Route 56
Illinois Route 58
Illinois Route 62
Illinois Route 64
Illinois Route 68
Illinois Route 72
Illinois Route 110
Army Trail Road
Randall Road
Longmeadow Parkway
Kane County Route 37
Lake Cook Road
Communities
Cities
Aurora (mostly)
Batavia (mostly)
Elgin (mostly)
Geneva
St. Charles (mostly)
Villages
Algonquin (part)
Barrington Hills (part)
Bartlett (part)
Big Rock
Burlington
Campton Hills
Carpentersville
East Dundee (mostly)
Elburn
Gilberts
Hampshire
Hoffman Estates (part)
Huntley (part)
Kaneville
Lily Lake
Maple Park (part)
Montgomery (mostly)
North Aurora
Pingree Grove
Sleepy Hollow
South Elgin
Sugar Grove
Virgil
Wayne (part)
West Dundee
Census-designated place
Prestbury
Other unincorporated communities
Allens Corners
Almora
Bald Mound
Bowes
Five Island Park
Freeman
La Fox
Mooseheart
North Plato
Nottingham Woods
Plato Center
Rainbow Hills
Starks
Udina
Valley View
Wasco
Townships
Aurora Township
Batavia Township
Big Rock Township
Blackberry Township
Burlington Township
Campton Township
Dundee Township
Elgin Township
Geneva Township
Hampshire Township
Kaneville Township
Plato Township
Rutland Township
St. Charles Township
Sugar Grove Township
Virgil Township
Politics
Kane County is coterminous with the 16th Judicial Circuit. The 16th Judicial Circuit is divided into four subcircuits. The first subcircuit consists of the majority of Aurora Township. The second subcircuit consists of most of Elgin and Dundee townships. The fourth subcircuit consists the tri-cities area of Batavia, Geneva, and Saint Charles. The third subcircuit consists of all territory not included in the other three subcircuits, which corresponds to an area of roughly the western two thirds of the county.
As one of the Yankee-settled and prosperous suburban “collar counties”, Kane County was a stronghold of the Free Soil Party in its first few elections, being one of nine Illinois counties to give a plurality to Martin van Buren in 1848. Kane County then unsurprisingly became solidly Republican for the century and a half following that party's formation. It voted for the GOP presidential nominee in every election between 1856 and 2004 except that of 1912 when the Republican Party was mortally divided and Progressive candidate Theodore Roosevelt carried the county with a majority of the vote over conservative incumbent William Howard Taft.
The gradual shift of the GOP towards white Southern Evangelicals, however, has led the generally moderate electorate of Kane and the other “collar counties” to trend towards the Democratic Party. In 2008, Senator Barack Obama became the first Democrat to carry Kane County since Franklin Pierce in 1852, and the first ever to win an absolute majority of the county's vote (the previous two Democratic winners, Pierce and James K. Polk in 1844 had both gained only pluralities due to strong Free Soil votes). Obama won a plurality in 2012, and Hillary Clinton improved upon Obama's showing to become the second Democrat to win a majority in 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden had the best performance ever by a Democrat in the county, even besting Obama's 2008 victory.
See also
Dundee Township Park District
Fermilab
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
Golden Corridor
Illinois Technology and Research Corridor
National Register of Historic Places listings in Kane County, Illinois
Tri-Cities, Illinois
Notable people
Patricia Golden
Frank D. Weir
References
General
External links
Kane County government website
1836 establishments in Illinois
Chicago metropolitan area
Illinois counties
Populated places established in 1836