What is the population of Kankakee city?

Kankakee city has 24,384 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #93 of 1,462 in Illinois.

What is the median household income in Kankakee city?

Median household income in Kankakee city is $45,119 a year, 42.6% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Kankakee city?

Median gross rent is $986 a month and the median home value is $105,500, so rent absorbs about 26.2% of median household income.

Is Kankakee city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 2.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Kankakee city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 26.2% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Illinois · Census place 38934

Kankakee, IL population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Kankakee, Illinois (Kankakee, IL — Census place “Kankakee city”) is 24,384 residents, ranking #93 of 1462 places in Illinois. Median household income is $45,119, the median home is worth $105,500 and median gross rent runs $986 a month. Looking for the Kankakee Illinois ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Kankakee, IL: 60901.

Population: 24,384Kankakee city residents
Median household income: $45,119Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $105,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $986Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 36.4 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 49.4%Owner-occupied households

Kankakee ZIP codes (Illinois)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Kankakee.

The Kankakee IL ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

60901

What the numbers mean in Kankakee city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Kankakee city median would spend about 26.2% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 2.3× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 27.8% of residents and 49.4% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Kankakee city, IL in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Kankakee city is a mid-size town in Illinois, with 24,384 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #93 of 1,462 ranked by population — larger than 93% of them. The median age here is 36.4 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Kankakee city earn a median of $45,119 a year, 42.6% below the national figure of $78,538 and 39% below the $74,244 median for the 698 Illinois cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 27.8% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Kankakee city is valued at $105,500, 65.2% below the national figure and 41% below the $179,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $986 a month, 29.9% below the national figure, or roughly $11,832 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 26.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 49.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Compare with nearby places

Places of similar size in Illinois.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Kankakee city?: Kankakee city has 24,384 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #93 of 1,462 in Illinois.
What is the median household income in Kankakee city?: Median household income in Kankakee city is $45,119 a year, 42.6% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Kankakee city?: Median gross rent is $986 a month and the median home value is $105,500, so rent absorbs about 26.2% of median household income.
Is Kankakee city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 2.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Kankakee city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 26.2% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Kankakee city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.