Kane County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 516,522, making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and its largest city is

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

. Kane County is one of the collar counties of the metropolitan statistical area designated "

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

– Naperville– Elgin, IL– IN– WI" by the

US census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 under Secretar ...

History

Kane County was formed out of LaSalle County in 1836. The county was named in honor of

Elias Kane Elias Kent Kane (June 7, 1794December 12, 1835) was the first Illinois Secretary of State and a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Illinois. Early life He was born in New York City, to merchant Capt. Elias Kent Kane and Deborah VanSchelluyn ...

, a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

and the first

secretary of state of Illinois The secretary of state of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of state in the United States. The Illinois secretary of state keeps the state records, laws, libra ...

. File:Kane County Illinois 1836.png, Kane County from the time of its creation to 1837, when DeKalb County was split off File:Kane County Illinois 1837.png, Kane County between 1837 and 1841 File:Kane County Illinois 1841.png, Kane County in 1841, reduced to its present size

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, 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 Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

(east) * DuPage County (east) * Will County (southeast) * Kendall County (south) *

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

(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 Forest Preserve *

Kenyon Farm Kenyon may refer to: Names * Kenyon (given name) * Kenyon (surname) Places * Kenyon, Cheshire, United Kingdom, a village * Kenyon, Minnesota, United States, a city * Kenyon, Rhode Island, United States, a village * Kenyon, former name of Pineridg ...

* 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 Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

* 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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 13.0% were Irish, 7.9% were Polish, 7.4% were

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, 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 The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, 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 Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...

* '' BNSF Line'' * '' Milwaukee District West Line'' * '' Union Pacific West Line'' * Pace * ''

Pace I-90 Express Pace I-90 Express Bus Service is an on highway express bus service between Rosemont Transportation Center and Elgin operated by Pace. The buses operate on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of I ...

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 John Dennis Hastert ( ; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, teacher, and wrestling coach who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hast ...

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 The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Illinois charged with building, operating, and maintaining toll roads in the state. The roads, as well as the authority itself, are sometimes refer ...

to operate a limited access toll bridge on the Longmeadow Parkway that is not connected to any other tollway. * I-88

Interstate 88 * I-90

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

U.S. Highway 20 * US 30

U.S. Highway 30 * US 34

U.S. Highway 34 * Illinois 19

Illinois Route 19 * Illinois 25

Illinois Route 25 * Illinois 31

Illinois Route 31 Illinois Route 31 (IL 31) is a north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois, United States. It travels from U.S. Route 34 in Illinois, U.S. Route 34 (US 34) in Oswego, Illinois, Oswego north to U.S. Route 12 in Illin ...

Illinois Route 38 * Illinois 47

Illinois Route 47 Illinois Route 47 (IL 47) is a largely rural north–south state highway that runs from the Wisconsin state border at Highway 120 (Wisconsin), Highway 120 near Hebron, Illinois, Hebron, to Illinois Route 10, IL 10, just south of I ...

Illinois Route 56 * Illinois 58

Illinois Route 58 * Illinois 62

Illinois Route 62 * Illinois 64

Illinois Route 64 * Illinois 68

Illinois Route 68 * Illinois 72

Illinois Route 72 * Illinois 110

Illinois Route 110 * Kane County 20

Army Trail Road * Kane County 34

Randall Road * Kane County 86

Longmeadow Parkway * Kane County Route 37 * Lake Cook Road

Communities

Cities

(mostly) * Batavia (mostly) * Elgin (mostly) *

* St. Charles (mostly)

Villages

* Algonquin (part) * Barrington Hills (part) * Bartlett (part) * Big Rock * Burlington * Campton Hills * Carpentersville * East Dundee (mostly) * Elburn * Gilberts *

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Hoffman Estates Hoffman Estates is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village previously served as the headquarters for Sears and is one of the American headquarter ...

(part) * Huntley (part) * Kaneville * Lily Lake * Maple Park (part) * Montgomery (mostly) * North Aurora * Pingree Grove * Sleepy Hollow * South Elgin * Sugar Grove *

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

* Wayne (part) * West Dundee

Census-designated place

* Prestbury

Other unincorporated communities

* Allens Corners *

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

* Bald Mound *

Bowes Bowes is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle. In 2021 the parish had a population of 442.Table PP002 - Se ...

* Five Island Park *

Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

* La Fox * Mooseheart * North Plato * Nottingham Woods * Plato Center * Rainbow Hills * Starks * Thornwood *

Udina Udina () is a volcanic massif located in the central part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. It comprises two distinct conical stratovolcanoes: Bolshaya Udina, standing at 2,920 meters, and Malaya Udina, with a height of 1,945 meters. Malaya ...

* Valley View * Wasco (former)

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

Government

Kane County Board

Kane County services are overseen by a 24 member Board which is elected every two years. The Board's chair is elected every four years. The Board sets the County's budget. Corrine Michelle Pierog is the current County Board Chair. There are currently 16 Democrats and 8 Republicans on the Board. In addition to the Board chair, there are nine county officeholders elected countywide every four years. These positions are the Auditor, Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Coroner, Recorder, Regional Office of Education Superintendent, Sheriff, State's Attorney, and Treasurer.

Current elected officials

16th Circuit

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 Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

townships. The fourth subcircuit consists the tri-cities area of Batavia,

, 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.

Politics

As one of the

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

-settled and prosperous suburban " collar counties", Kane County was a stronghold of the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. The party was focused o ...

in its first few elections, being one of nine Illinois counties to give a plurality to

Martin van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

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 Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

carried the county with a majority of the vote over conservative incumbent

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

. 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 Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

became the first Democrat to carry Kane County since

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

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 James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

in 1844 had both gained only pluralities due to strong Free Soil votes). Obama won a plurality in 2012, and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

improved upon Obama's showing to become the second Democrat to win a majority in 2016. In 2020,

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

had the best performance ever by a Democrat in the county, even besting Obama's 2008 victory. Kane County is represented in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

by Democrats Bill Foster ( 11th District), Raja Krishnamoorthi ( 8th District), and Lauren Underwood ( 14th District).

Notable people

* Geneva, Illinois§Notable people * Batavia, Illinois§Notable people * St. Charles, Illinois§Notable people * List of people from Elgin, Illinois * List of people from Aurora, Illinois * Carpentersville, Illinois§Notable residents * East Dundee, Illinois§Notable residents * Hampshire, Illinois§Notable people * Kaneville, Illinois§Notable natives * Montgomery, Illinois§Notable people * Sugar Grove, Illinois§Notable people * West Dundee, Illinois§Notable resident

References

;General *

External links

Kane County government website
{{Coord, 41, 57, N, 88, 26, W, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL, display=title 1836 establishments in Illinois Chicago metropolitan area Illinois counties Populated places established in 1836