Over the Last 40 Years, Latinxs Have Taken Over Chicago’s Suburbs

Over the Last 40 Years, Latinxs Have Taken Over Chicago’s Suburbs

Latinxs have taken over many of Chicago’s biggest suburbs. In the past few decades, cities like Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan, and Joliet have become majority or near-majority Latino.

Since 1980, suburban Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Central Americans have grown from small groups of a few thousand to bustling Latino communities full of culture, pride, and political power.

In fact, today most Latinxs in Chicagoland live in the suburbs. That’s right. Since 2004, the suburban Latinx population has been larger than the number of Latina/os living in the city of Chicago.

The Chicagolandia Oral History Project was created to document this dramatic change. We are asking Chicagoland suburban Latinxs: What brought you to the suburbs? What kinds of economic and cultural contributions have Latina/os made to Chicagolandia? What challenges and opportunities have you found in the suburbs?

If you are Latino and grew up in Chicago’s suburbs, we want to hear from you!

Click on “Share Your Story” on our website to tell us about being Latinx in Chicago’s suburbs.

Or search “Chicagolandia Project” on Instagram and to check out pictures of suburban Latinxs.

If you have a picture to share, let us know and we’ll share it!