Downstate Illinois refers to all of Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area. This term is flexible, but because it is generally meant to refer to everything outside the Chicago-area, some cities in Northern Illinois, such as Rockford[1][2][3] and DeKalb,[4][5][6] (which are north and west of Chicago, respectively), are considered to be "downstate".[7][8]
The term has been part of the Illinois vernacular for decades,[9] and is commonly used by the media.[10][11][12] The General Assembly (the state legislature for Illinois) regularly makes references to the term in the titles of bills it passes.[13]
| Ten Largest Downstate Cities | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Population | County | ||||
| 1 | Rockford | 157,280 | Winnebago | ||||
| 2 | Springfield | 118,033 | Sangamon | ||||
| 3 | Peoria | 115,520 | Peoria | ||||
| 4 | Champaign | 80,286 | Champaign | ||||
| 5 | Decatur | 76,199 | Macon | ||||
| 6 | Bloomington | 74,184 | McLean | ||||
| 7 | Normal | 52,799 | McLean | ||||
| 8 | DeKalb | 43,862 | DeKalb | ||||
| 9 | Moline | 43,050 | Rock Island | ||||
| 10 | Belleville | 41,285 | St. Clair | ||||
Most of the state's largest cities (six of the top ten) are concentrated in and around the Chicago , but several mid-sized cities exist in the downstate area as well. Rockford is the region's largest.