Is Kenosha a Suburb of Chicago?

Another question I often see online regarding Kenosha is “is Kenosha a suburb of Chicago.” This question can be broken down into three parts: cultural, statistical, and social.

The short answer is yes, Kenosha is considered a suburb of Chicago. According to the United States Census Bureau, Kenosha is in the Chicago Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The CSA is an area with “economic ties measured by commuting patterns.”

Continue reading to learn how Kenosha is considered a suburb of Chicago statistically, but maybe not personally.

What is a Suburb?

Below we get started, let’s quickly define what a suburb is. Meriam-Wester defines a suburb as ‘an outlying part of a city or town, a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city, the residential area on the outskirts of a city or large town.

Statistics (Federal)

As I mentioned earlier, statistically (federally) speaking, Kenosha is a suburb of Chicago and not Milwaukee. According to Wikipedia, the Combined Statistical Area (CSA, the term used to define metropolitan areas) is a federal measurement that is used to determine economic and social linkage. Currently, there are over 171 CSA in the United States and Puerto. The largest CSA is the New York statistical CSA with almost 24 million people.

The Chicago CSA ranks 3rd with a population of almost 10 million. The Chicago statistical includes Kenosha County (Wisconsin) to the North, La Salle County (Illinois) to the West and Porter County (Indiana) to the East.

Some measurements also include Racine County in the CSA, however, the government does not.

Culture

Due to Kenosha’s location, it has an interesting mix of Chicago and Milwaukee culture to create a unique Kenosha blend. Kenosha is heavily influenced by the trends that occur in these two cities. Kenosha is influenced by the German history of Milwaukee (and Wisconsin as a whole), as well as the Italian history of Chicago.

One cool feature of living between Chicago and Milwaukee is the ability to have multiple local channels. Unlike most places, Kenosha residents can watch the local broadcast channels for Chicago and Milwaukee. While this may not seem like a cool feature, it really comes in handy when you are watching local sporting events. Kenosha residents can watch both the Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Bears without needing to pay extra. Again, depending on where you live, you can watch them for free using and indoor antenna.

This dual-feed also helps if you work in either city or if you are planning a day trip.

Kenosha is also influenced by the vast number of churches in the county limits. Currently, Kenosha county has about 80 churches. Assuming Kenosha has a population of 100,000 residents, that is about 1,250 residents per church.

In addition, almost every one of these churches holds a festival during the summer. It is very common to send your entire weekend bouncing from festival to festival eating corn, cheese curds, and funnel cake.

The only other business type that has more establishments that churches are bars. One estimate stated that Kenosha has 121 bars. Again, assuming there are 100,000 residents in Kenosha, there is one bar for every 826 residents. Kenosha has multiple bars to suit just about any need.

Social

Socially, Kenosha doesn’t take direction from anyone. In fact, if you tell a lifelong Kenosha resident that they take anything from Milwaukee or Chicago, you may have a fight on your hands. Kenosha residents love Kenosha for all the reasons I’ve discussed in this post.

Kenosha residents love meeting up at their favorite festival, socializing at the beer garden, and singing to the local cover band. While Kenosha residents love to bicker about their favorite sports teams, but they will untie to tell you how much better Kenosha is than the place you’re from.

Kenosha residents will tell you it’s too hot in the summer and it’s too cold in the winter while asking what side of town you’re from. Even though Kenosha has three large high schools, you’re either from the North Side (Bradford), or South Side (Tremper).

One of the coolest things about Kenosha is there is about 3 degrees of separation. Kenosha has that small town feel where you will see the same people at the gym, grocery store, and beach, but large enough to have different activities on the weekend. As a lifelong Kenosha resident, I still see my 9-year-old baseball coach, parents of old friends, and the owner of the card shop Id ride my bike to.

While Kenosha is as it’s always been, it is changing. Investors see opportunities in Kenosha County and are bringing in new ideas and innovation. Not too long ago, the only things West of Green Bay Road was the Greyhound Dog Track, and corn fields. Now, it feels like most of the action happens West of Green Bay Road. Kenosha has rapidly built up the West to attract new residents and businesses.

What about Milwaukee?

Because of Milwaukee’s distance from Kenosha (less than 40 miles), it is natural to assume that Kenosha is a suburb of Kenosha, and you’d be correct. Kenosha and Milwaukee share a lot of cultural similarities including popular food, drinks, and sports teams. In addition, many people commute to Milwaukee for work, shopping, and social interactions.

Milwaukee’s CSA includes Racine (The County north of Kenosha), Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, and Ozaukee counties. The reason that Kenosha isn’t included on this list is simple: Kenosha sends more people to Chicago than Milwaukee. There could be a few factors that contribute to Kenosha sending people South instead of North.

• Higher Salaries
• More things to do
• Illinois transplants
• Illinois border is closer

Higher Salaries

According to Data USA, the median household income for Wisconsin is $65,811 and a median property value of $173,200. To compare, Illinois residents have a median house hold income of $60,960 and a median property value of $186,500. With higher salaries in Illinois and lower property values in Wisconsin, it only makes sense to work in Illinois and take the money back to Wisconsin.

More Things to Do

Simply put, Chicago has more things to do. Chicago has more of everything: shopping, culture, sports, restaurants, and nightlife. This is no disrespect to Milwaukee, but Chicago has a higher population, which means there will be more opportunity to do different things.

Chicago has twice as many museums (40+ vs 20), professional sports teams (5 vs 2), and places to eat.

Milwaukee has a population of 595,070, whereas Chicago has a population of 2.7 Million. In addition, Chicago has a higher median income ($53,006 vs $38,097), median property value ($243,900 vs $114,700), and lower poverty rate (19.1% vs 26.7%).

Illinois Transplants

Another reason why Kenosha residents head south instead of North is because of their Illinois roots. These people have been born in Chicago, then moved to Wisconsin for various reasons. The main reason I believe that Illinois residents move to Kenosha is the lower cost of living. Former Illinois residents can find bigger and more housing opportunities in Kenosha than in and around Chicago. I’m sure many people have realized that it is cheaper to live in Kenosha and commute to the Chicago area.

Conclusion

Technically, Kenosha is a suburb of Chicago because of the number of residents that travel to Chicagoland. Because Illinois is less than 20 miles from the Northern part of Kenosha county, it makes sense for Kenosha residents to travel down I-94 or Green Bay Road.

Culturally and socially, Kenosha is its own entity with some influence from Milwaukee and Chicago. Kenosha borrows the food, drink, and fun from these cities, then mixes in some small-town flair. There are two questions you should always answer correctly, “what side of town you from,” and “who’s your favorite football team?”

Additional Questions

Is Kenosha a Suburb of Milwaukee?

Like the answer to the Chicago question above, it depends on who you ask, If you ask the federal government, the answer is no. However, if you ask Kenosha residents, many will say yes. Kenosha takes cultural and social queues from both Chicago and Milwaukee.

Many Kenosha residents travel to Milwaukee daily for work, school, and play as it is only 30 miles one way.