{{Short description|Counties in Illinois surrounding Chicago}} {{About|the suburban counties outside Chicago|the four suburban Philadelphia counties (Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester), also known as "the collar counties"<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Field|first1=Nick|date=October 25, 2019|title=How the Pa. electorate has changed since 2016 and what that means for 2020 {{!}} Analysis|url=https://www.penncapital-star.com/government-politics/how-the-pa-electorate-has-changed-since-2016-and-what-that-means-for-2020-analysis/|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=Pennsylvania Capital-Star|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Otterbein|first=Holly|title=Pennsylvania suburbs revolt against Trump|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/06/pennsylvania-suburbs-trump-067078|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=POLITICO|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bond|first=Michaelle|title=The Philadelphia suburbs turned blue in a big way. What do Democrats plan to do with their new power?|url=https://www.inquirer.com/news/delaware-county-blue-wave-democrats-gop-election-bucks-chester-20191106.html|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=inquirer.com|language=en-US}}</ref> |Delaware Valley}} {{expert needed|1=Illinois|ex2=Politics of the United States|date=September 2018|reason=Needs expansion and updates, especially by people who closely follow Illinois politics}} {{Use American English|date=September 2018}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Collar counties | settlement_type = Region of Illinois | nickname = | image_skyline = CollarCountyMontage01.png | imagesize = 300px | image_caption = Clockwise from top left: Rialto Square Theater (Joliet), Downtown Crystal Lake, Moser Tower (Naperville), Old DuPage County Courthouse (Wheaton), Great Lakes Naval Training Station (North Chicago), and Downtown Aurora
| image_map = Collar Counties.png | map_caption =
| subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|United States}} | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Illinois}} | subdivision_type2 = Counties | subdivision_name2 = DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will
| established_title = Settled | established_date = 1770s | named_for = Their mutual proximity to, and surrounding of, Cook County
| unit_pref = | area_magnitude = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_land_km2 = <!--auto--> | area_water_sq_mi = | area_water_km2 = <!--auto--> | area_water_percent = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_urban_km2 = <!--auto--> | area_metro_sq_mi = | area_metro_km2 = <!--auto--> | area_footnotes = | elevation_ft = | elevation_m = <!--auto--> | elevation_footnotes = | population_as_of = 2012 Estimate | population_total = 3,143,257 | population_rank = | population_note = | population_footnotes =
| timezone = CST | utc_offset = −06:00 | timezone_DST = CDT | utc_offset_DST = −05:00 | area_codes = 224, 331, 630, 779, 815, 847 }}
'''Collar counties''' is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and comprise many of the area's suburbs. While Lake County, Indiana also borders Cook County, it is not typically included in the phrase "Collar Counties" due to different socioeconomic characteristics and positionality.
After Cook County, the collar counties are also the next five most populous counties in Illinois. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Chicago'', there is no specifically known origin of the phrase, but it has been commonly used among policy-makers, urban planners, and in the media.<ref>{{Citation|last=Mariner|first=Richard D.|title=Collar Counties|date=2005|url=https://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/3.html|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago|place=Chicago|publisher=Chicago History Museum and the Newberry Library|access-date=March 11, 2021}}</ref>
In 1950, the Census Bureau defined the Chicago metropolitan statistical area as comprising Cook County, four of the five collar counties (excluding McHenry), and Lake County in Indiana. In 2010, reflecting urban growth, the Bureau redefined the area as comprising several additional counties in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Combined statistical area population and estimated components of change: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 (CSA-EST2016-alldata)|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2010-2016/metro/totals/cbsa-est2016-alldata.csv|access-date=July 27, 2017|publisher=U.S. Census}}</ref>
As of 2019, there are 3,150,376 people residing in the collar counties, nearly 25% of the population of Illinois. Cook County and the collar counties combined are home to approximately 65% of Illinois's population.
== Politics == While it is not its exclusive use, the term is often employed in political discussions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mount|first=Charles|title=Collar Counties Cutting Court Backlogs|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/05/30/collar-counties-cutting-court-backlogs/|work=Chicago Tribune|date=May 30, 1989|access-date=September 13, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socqrl.niu.edu/collarcounty/c3index.htm|title=Collar County Homepage|website=socqrl.niu.edu|access-date=February 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320091232/http://www.socqrl.niu.edu/collarcounty/c3index.htm|archive-date=March 20, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Like many other suburban areas in the United States, the collar counties have somewhat different political leanings from the core city. Chicago has long been a Democratic stronghold, while the collar counties historically tilted Republican. In recent elections, however, the collar counties have voted for Democrats, but with lower margins than Cook County.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 17, 2020|title=Illinois primary live results|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/politics/illinois-primary-results-live/index.html|url-status=live|access-date=March 11, 2021|website=CNN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318013229/https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/politics/illinois-primary-results-live/index.html |archive-date=March 18, 2020 }}</ref>
For most of the 20th century, the collar counties were solidly Republican, voting for the Republican nominee in nearly every presidential election and often by large margins. The counties continued to support the Republicans in the 1990s and 2000s, but were much closer than previously. During this period, the collar counties were routinely cited as being the key to any statewide election, as Cook County tends to vote for Democrats by large margins and downstate Illinois tends to vote for Republicans by large margins.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://prairiestateblue.com/diary/4029/ |title=PSB: Progressive Illinois Politics:: The Collar County Shift |access-date=February 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219003109/http://www.prairiestateblue.com/diary/4029/ |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/2807912,governor-quinn-brady-suburbs-101710.article|title='Quinn-Brady race may be decided in collar counties|work=Chicago Sun-Times|access-date=February 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019104204/http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/2807912,governor-quinn-brady-suburbs-101710.article|archive-date=October 19, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Why the Collar Counties are Trending GOP|url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Collar-Counties-Trending-for-GOP.html|work=NBC Chicago|access-date=September 13, 2013}}</ref> However, that conventional wisdom was challenged in the 2010 gubernatorial election, as Democrat Pat Quinn won election while winning only Cook County and three counties in Southern Illinois.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GE&ElectionID=29&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=5370&QueryType=Office&|title=Error Display|website=elections.il.gov|access-date=August 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921062537/http://www.elections.il.gov/electioninformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GE&ElectionID=29&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=5370&QueryType=Office&|archive-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> All five collar counties went Republican, so the key to that gubernatorial election was winning Cook County by a wide enough margin to overwhelm the rest of the state.
Barack Obama used the term in his speech before the Democratic National Convention in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/barack-obamas-keynote-address-at-the-2004-democratic-national-convention|title = Barack Obama's Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention| website=PBS |date = July 27, 2004}}</ref>
The collar counties have become significantly more Democratic since the 2010s,<ref name="Jacobson">{{cite news |last1=Jacobson |first1=Louis |title=Chicago's Suburbs and the Blue Shift in Illinois |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2024-09-05/chicagos-suburbs-turn-illinois-solidly-blue |work=US News and World Report |date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> resulting in Illinois as a whole becoming more reliable Democratic and no longer competitive for Republicans. As Democrats began organizing in the area to appeal to suburban voters while Republicans turned towards conservativism, along with demographic changes, much of the politics of the counties shifted considerably.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Jacobsen |first=Louis |date=5 September 2024 |title=Chicago's Suburbs and the Blue Shift in Illinois |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2024-09-05/chicagos-suburbs-turn-illinois-solidly-blue |access-date=6 September 2024 |work=usnews.com}}</ref> Barack Obama won all the collar counties in 2008, and four of them (all but McHenry) have voted for the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since. By the 2020 presidential election, all but one county backed Joe Biden, with Donald Trump carrying McHenry County by a narrow 2.5 points. Similarly, the counties now favor Democrats in statewide and legislative elections.<ref name=":0" />
==See also== * Other wealthy, historically conservative suburban regions in the United States: ** Pennsylvania suburban counties of Philadelphia: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (for Philadelphia). *** Sometimes also referred to as "the collar counties" ** Carver County, Minnesota (for Minneapolis) ** Cobb County, Georgia and to a lesser extent Gwinnett County, Georgia (for Atlanta) ** Delaware County, Ohio (for Columbus) ** Douglas County, Colorado (for Denver) ** East Valley (for Phoenix) ** Eastside (King County, Washington) (for Seattle) ** The Grosse Pointes, Macomb County, and to a lesser extent Oakland County (for Detroit) ** Hamilton County, Indiana (for Indianapolis) ** Long Island (for New York City) *** Morris County, New Jersey (for New York City and Newark) ** North County (for San Diego) ** Northern Virginia (for Washington, D.C.) ** Orange County, California (for Los Angeles) ** Placer County, California (for Sacramento) ** Rockwall County, Texas (for Dallas) ** Saint Charles County (for Saint Louis) ** Seacoast Region (for Boston) ** Warren County, Ohio (for Cincinnati) ** Washington County, Oregon (for Portland) ** Williamson County, Tennessee (for Nashville) ** WOW counties (for Milwaukee)
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{Illinois}}
Category:Chicago metropolitan area * Category:Electoral geography of the United States Category:Politics of Illinois *