Thirty miles west of Chicago, Naperville is a big, tidy suburb that regularly lands on lists of the best places to raise a family. The heart of it is the Riverwalk, a long path along the DuPage River with a carillon, boat rentals and a covered bridge, and downtown has good restaurants and shops within walking distance. Naper Settlement is a living history museum, and the Morton Arboretum in nearby Lisle is a lovely day out.
With about 153,000 people, it is the third-largest city in Illinois and feels calmer than that sounds. Violent crime is very low, schools drive demand, and the housing market is high-priced and steady. The community is diverse, with Hindi, Gujarati, Mandarin and Polish speakers. Winters are cold and snowy, summer storms can bring tornadoes, and the DuPage River can flood in heavy rain. Most people commute to Chicago by train or car, and the big events are Last Fling at Labor Day and the Christmas Walk.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- Illinois' third-largest city; Riverwalk city (Naperville Riverwalk); Top-ranked suburb for families; Home of Naper Settlement
- Founded
- 1831 settled (Joseph Naper); 1857 incorporated as a town; 1890 incorporated as a city
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Hindi and Gujarati; Chinese (Mandarin); Polish; Arabic
- Airports
- Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), about 25 miles northeast; Chicago Midway International (MDW), about 32 miles east; DuPage Airport (DPA, general aviation), about 12 miles north; Naperville Metra station gives direct rail to downtown Chicago
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink or 15-20% of tab; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; counter service optional
About this data
Population 153,114 (Census QuickFacts, July 1 2025 estimate); land area 39.08 sq mi (101.2 km2); median value and rent from Census ACS 2020-2024, fetched. Metro figure 9,434,123 is the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA as given by the requester. Size tier Small by city population. Elevation, coordinates, founding, events (dates approximate and some not verified as current), hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, crime rates, airport distances and 1BR rent are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified in this pass. Official URLs found via search but not load-tested
