Wonder Lake is a village in McHenry County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is a

commuter village A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

. The population was 3,973 at the 2020 census. However including surrounding

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

subdivisions, the population is estimated at 10,000.

Geography

Wonder Lake is located at (42.38427, -88.367814). According to the 2010 census, Wonder Lake has a total area of , of which (or 80.68%) is land and (or 19.32%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,345 people, 445 households, and 367 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 488 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.17%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.37%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.07% Native American, 0.30%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 1.12% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.97% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

people of any race were 4.46% of the population. There were 445 households, out of which 45.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.5% were non-families. 12.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.32. In the village, the population was spread out, with 31.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $59,712, and the median income for a family was $62,404. Males had a median income of $49,792 versus $27,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $21,428. About 2.6% of families and 2.7% 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 t ...

, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

Harrison School District 36 serves kindergarten through 8th grade students living on the east Ssde of the village of Wonder Lake. The school mascot is the Hurricane. The school property is located directly east of Harrison-Benwell County Park. The east side of Wonder Lake is served by

McHenry Community High School District 156 McHenry Community High School District 156 is a public school district that serves parts of McHenry County, Illinois. This includes the communities of McHenry, Bull Valley, Wonder Lake, Lakemoor Lakemoor is a village in Lake and McHenry cou ...

, while the west side is served by

Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 is a public K-12 school district based in Woodstock, Illinois. The school district serves the communities of Woodstock, Bull Valley, Greenwood and the west side of Wonder Lake in McHenry County, Illin ...

Lake and village

The name Wonder Lake now refers to both the lake itself and a village incorporated in 1974 from one of the west side unincorporated blocks of homes, Sunrise Ridge, called "subdivisions", that surround most of the lake. Initially named the Village of Sunrise Ridge, the name was changed to the Village of Wonder Lake a few years later. The population of the combined village and all surrounding subdivisions has published population estimates currently over 10,000. In an effort to reverse the filling of the lake with sediment, the village annexed the lake bottom in the early 2000s so as to gain control of the lake bottom and allow proceeding with cleanup. They won this only after a court case, as some people objected to the cost of the cleanup.

References

{{authority control Villages in Illinois Chicago metropolitan area Villages in McHenry County, Illinois Populated places established in 1974