East Hazel Crest is a village in

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

, United States. It is a south

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 1,297.

History

East Hazel Crest was a part of Hazel Crest when it incorporated in 1911 until the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

elevated their commuter and mainline tracks above grade, isolating the rural community from the rest of Hazel Crest. The community voted for incorporation into their own village in 1918. The village later annexed a small commercial area and residential subdivision, Bremerton Woods, that lies west of the Illinois Central Railroad where the village administration and Metra station now stand.

Geography

East Hazel Crest is located at (41.576384, -87.652171). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, East Hazel Crest has a total area of , all land.

Surrounding areas

: Harvey : Hazel Crest

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

: Hazel Crest Thornton : Homewood Homewood : Homewood

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 1,297 people, 575 households, and 356 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 630 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 57.98%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 25.60%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.23% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.00%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 7.09% from other races, and 8.79% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 16.11% of the population. There were 575 households, out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.78% were married couples living together, 21.57% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.09% were non-families. 36.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.61% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.54 and the average family size was 2.62. The village's age distribution consisted of 15.9% under the age of 18, 14.2% from 18 to 24, 18% from 25 to 44, 30.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.1 males. The median income for a household in the village was $50,583, and the median income for a family was $68,594. Males had a median income of $38,929 versus $31,902 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $29,269. About 9.0% of families and 9.0% 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 4.6% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

East Hazel Crest is in

Illinois's 2nd congressional district Illinois's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. It stretches south from Chicago's Kenwood community area through portions of the city's South Side and southern suburbs, extending into several m ...

Transportation

The Calumet station provides

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 ...

commuter rail service along the

Metra Electric District The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...

. Trains travel north to

Millennium station Millennium Station, (previously known as Randolph Street Terminal and occasionally referred to as Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a commuter rail terminal located in the Chicago Loop, Loop area of Chicago, do ...

in Chicago, and south to

University Park station University Park is a station on Metra's Metra Electric District line located in University Park, Illinois. University Park is the southern terminus of the Metra Electric main line and is away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station ...

. Pace provides bus service on Route 356 connecting East Hazel Crest to destinations across the Southland.

References

External links

Village of East Hazel Crest official website
{{authority control Villages in Cook County, Illinois Chicago metropolitan area Majority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, Illinois Villages in Illinois