Brazilian Population in Cook County, IL by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights
The Brazilian population in Cook County, IL is recorded at 4,303 residents, based on the latest U.S. Census estimates. Most cities in Cook County - including Chicago, Oak Lawn, Schaumburg, and others - report non-zero figures, reflecting a broad and distributed Brazilian presence. However, the combined population across these cities exceeds the official county total - a likely result of rounding differences or sampling variations in small-population census data. The analysis below explores how Brazilian communities are spread across Cook County, IL and comparable counties throughout Illinois.
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Top 5 cities with the largest Brazilian population in Cook County
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1ChicagoBrazilian population in Chicago is 2,8710.11% of Chicago population is Brazilian
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2Oak LawnBrazilian population in Oak Lawn is 2610.46% of Oak Lawn population is Brazilian
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3SchaumburgBrazilian population in Schaumburg is 2190.29% of Schaumburg population is Brazilian
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4Oak ParkBrazilian population in Oak Park is 1090.20% of Oak Park population is Brazilian
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5Mount ProspectBrazilian population in Mount Prospect is 1050.19% of Mount Prospect population is Brazilian
Overview of Brazilian population in Cook County
- Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data document Cook County with 4,303 Brazilian residents (0.083% of 5.2 million total county population), positioning the jurisdiction at the 99th percentile nationally among counties and 99th percentile within Illinois for Brazilian population concentrations, despite absolute population figures.
- Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS indicate Cook County's Brazilian population of 0.083% exceeds Illinois's state average of 0.053% while remaining below the national average of 0.16%, placing the county above regional demographic benchmarks while below national concentration levels.
- Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey data indicates Cook County hosts 4,303 Brazilian residents, constituting 64.5% of Illinois's total Brazilian population of 6,670, creating a demographic concentration where more than half of the state's Brazilian community resides within a single county—a geographic clustering pattern rarely documented in American demographic research.
- Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data shows Cook County maintains 4.6 Brazilian Americans per square mile, representing more than thirty-seven times Illinois's average of 0.12 per square mile, establishing the county as an exceptional concentration center comparable to major metropolitan demographic areas.
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125 Cities in Cook County Ranked by Brazilian Population
ACS data [1] show Brazilian populations distributed across multiple cities in the county, led by Chicago, Oak Lawn, Schaumburg, and Oak Park. The table below provides additional context, including total population, population density, and demographic distributions, based on current ACS data for 125 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
Methodology
This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks city in Cook County, IL by their Brazilian population, using the most recent ACS data available.
How the Census defines Brazilian population
The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Brazilian ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
- Some people identify as Brazilian alone, while others identify as Brazilian along with another race (such as Brazilian and German).
- We’ve used the “Brazilian alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Brazilian population in each area.
How We Ranked the Data
This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Brazilian alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
- % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Brazilian .
- % of Total Cook County Brazilian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Brazilian population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.
Things to Keep in Mind
Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
- In places with very small Brazilian populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
- Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
- City that don’t have any reported Brazilian population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Brazilian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles 2023.
