Prospect Heights is a city 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, and is a suburb of
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 ...
. Per the
2020 census, the population was 16,058.
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Prospect Heights has a total area of , of which (or 99.30%) is land and (or 0.70%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
2020 census there were 16,058 people, 6,144 households, and 4,205 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 6,657 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 61.41%
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 ...
, 10.31%
Asian, 1.51%
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 ...
, 1.33%
Native American, 0.01%
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 ...
, 14.14% from
other races, and 11.30% 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 28.99% of the population.
There were 6,144 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couples living together, 10.34% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.56% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.74% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.09 and the average family size was 2.59.
The city's age distribution consisted of 24.0% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 29% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $72,500, and the median income for a family was $84,803. Males had a median income of $48,699 versus $27,007 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 city was $39,534. About 6.5% of families and 10.0% 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 13.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
On April 5, 2011, Nicholas "Nick" Helmer was elected Mayor of Prospect Heights with 70% of the vote. Less than thirty days after being sworn in, Mayor Helmer rehired police officers that were laid off by the prior administration.
Education
Most of Prospect Heights is served by the
Prospect Heights School District 23
Prospect Heights School District 23 is a school district located in Prospect Heights, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The majority of the schools, (Betsy Ross Elementary School, Anne Sullivan Elementary School, and Douglas A. MacArthur Middle Scho ...
, which contains four schools:
*Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary (K-1)
*Betsy Ross Elementary (2–3)
*Anne Sullivan Elementary (4–5)
*MacArthur Middle School (6–8)
Other districts that serve portions of Prospect Heights include:
*
* Whitman Elementary School (K-5) (In Wheeling)
* Twain Elementary School (K-5) (In Wheeling)
* Frost Elementary School (K-5) (In Mount Prospect)
* Holmes Middle School (6–8) (In Wheeling)
*
River Trails School District 26
* Euclid Elementary School (K-5) (In Mount Prospect)
* River Trails Middle School (6–8) (In Mount Prospect)
Township High School District 214 serves Prospect Heights. Students attend either
Wheeling High School
Wheeling High School (WHS) is a public four-year high school located in Wheeling, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 214, which also includes Buffalo Grove Hi ...
or
John Hersey High School
John Hersey High School (also referred to as Hersey or JHHS) is a four-year public high school located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago in the United States. It enrolls students from Arlington Heights as well as parts ...
. Those in District 23's area will attend either. Those in District 21's area will attend Wheeling and those in District 26's area will attend Hersey.
Private education in Prospect Heights is St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Parish and St. Viator High School in
Arlington Heights.
Transportation
In addition to
Pace buses, Prospect Heights is serviced by two
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 ...
lines, with service to
Chicago Union Station
Chicago Union Station is an Inter-city rail, intercity and commuter rail terminal station, terminal located in the West Loop neighborhood of the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago. Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest, Uni ...
or Antioch from
a station on the
North Central Service
The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station (Chicago), Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois, Antioch, Illinois. In December 2022, the pub ...
, while the
Union Pacific / Northwest Line has two stations nearby.
Notable people
*
Steve Chen
Steve Chen (; born August 25, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American software engineer and Internet entrepreneur who is one of the co-founders and previous chief technology officer of the video-sharing website YouTube. After he co-founded the company A ...
, co-founder of YouTube
''YouTube: The Company and Its Founders'' By Rebecca Rowell
Retrieved 2017-02-18.
* Charlie Kirk
Charles James Kirk (born October 14, 1993) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political activist, author and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist media personality. With Bill Montgomery (activist), Bill Montgome ...
, founder of Turning Point USA
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. It was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgo ...
* Anson Mount
Anson Adams Mount IV (born February 25, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Cullen Bohannon in the AMC western drama series '' Hell on Wheels'', as Jim Steele on the NBC series ''Conviction'' (2006), as the Marve ...
, actor
* Marty Robinson, radio/TV performer
* Ben Weasel
Benjamin Foster (born April 8, 1968), also known as Ben Weasel, is an American musician best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Screeching Weasel.
Early life
Foster was born in 1968, and was raised in Prospect Heigh ...
, singer of punk rock band Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band consisting of Ben Weasel (vocals), Mike Kennerty (guitar), Mike Hunchback (guitar), Zach "Poutine" Brandner (bass) and Pierre Marche (drums) founded in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Pierson (music ...
References
External links
City of Prospect Heights
{{authority control
Cities in Illinois
Chicago metropolitan area
Cities in Cook County, Illinois