Jury Pool Profile
Cook County, Illinois
- County seat
- Chicago
- Judicial district
- Circuit Court of Cook County
- Population (July 2025 estimate)
- 5,194,625
- Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 5,182,090.
At a glance
Cook County is a 5,194,625-person venue. The county population is 44% White and 22% Black (Census race-alone categories). 27% identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race. Median household income is $82,729; 42.7% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 35.8% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish and Russian, Polish, or other Slavic. The largest employment sector is Education & health services, at 24.4% of covered employment, average pay $71,062/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 5.11%, above the 4.85% state average. The county carried the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 70% to 74% of the vote across the three.
- Population
- 5,182,090
- Median household income
- $83,498
- Unemployment
- 5.1%
Who sits on a jury?
<50% in any single race-alone group. White here: 44%; Black: 22%.
Cook County has a population of 5,182,090, with a median age of 38.0. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 43.6%; Black residents 22.2%. Independently, 26.8% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The median household earns $82,729; 42.7% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 13.7% live below the federal poverty line.
Economic context
Largest sector in BLS QCEW, even counting every withheld job toward the other sectors: Education & health services, about 24% of covered jobs.
Education & health services is the largest employment sector at 24.4% of covered employment, followed by Trade, transportation & utilities at 18.7%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 5.11%, above the Illinois state average.
Political composition
Democratic candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 73%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.
Cook County was carried by the Democratic candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 70.4% in 2024, 74.4% in 2020, 74.4% in 2016.
Languages, households, faith & health
Family households are 58% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 35.8% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).
35.8% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, Russian, Polish, or other Slavic, Chinese. Veterans account for 3.2% of the adult civilian population (132,321 individuals).