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Poles in Chicago

Part of a series on
Ethnic groups in Chicago
The Gateway Theatre in Jefferson Park is the seat of the Copernicus Foundation. The theater's Baroque spire is a replica of the Royal Castle in Warsaw

Both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage live in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide Polonia, the Polish term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago from its very beginning. Poles have been a part of the history of Chicago since 1837, when Captain Joseph Napieralski, along with other veterans of the November Uprising first set foot there.[1][self-published source][2] As of the 2000 U.S. census, Poles in Chicago were the largest European American ethnic group in the city, making up 7.3% of the total population.[3][4] However, according to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, German Americans and Irish Americans each had slightly surpassed Polish Americans as the largest European American ethnic groups in Chicago. German Americans made up 7.3% of the population, and numbered at 199,789; Irish Americans also made up 7.3% of the population, and numbered at 199,294. Polish Americans now made up 6.7% of Chicago's population, and numbered at 182,064.[5] Polish is the fourth most widely spoken language in Chicago behind English, Spanish, and Mandarin.[6]

According to Census estimates as of 2023, the Polish ancestry population in the broader Chicago metropolitan area numbers 721,538, making it the metropolitan region with the highest Polish population in the country, and likely the most Polish metropolitan area in the world outside of Poland.[7][8] While it is often claimed that Chicago has or had the highest Polish population outside of Warsaw, this is unlikely to ever have been the case, given the population of Łódź and Wrocław has historically outpaced the Polish ancestry population in Chicago.[8]

  1. ^ Lodesky, James D. Polish Pioneers in Illinois 1818-1850, XLibris (2010), p. 79
  2. ^ Parot, Joseph J. Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850–1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 19
  3. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 18
  4. ^ "Chicago city, Illinois - Profile of Selected Social Characteristics: 2000". American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. 2000-04-01. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  5. ^ "American FactFinder - Results". Archived from the original on 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  6. ^ "Language Access". www.chicago.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  7. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  8. ^ a b "Can Chicago Brag about the Size of its Polish Population?". WBEZ. Retrieved 2024-10-06.

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