Northern Illinois is a region of Illinois generally located immediately along and north of I-80 and outside of Chicagoland. While largely rural, it does include Rockford, the third largest city in Illinois, as well as DeKalb, home of Northern Illinois University.

Regions

State of Illinois

Illinois Driftless Area (Jo Daviess and Stephenson County as well as the western portions of Carroll Counties.)

Illinois River Valley (Kankakee, Grundy, Kendall and LaSalle Counties as well as portions of southern Will County.)

Kishwaukee Valley (The western portions of McHenry County as well as Boone and DeKalb Counties.)

McHenry County

Rock River Valley (Cities and Villages along the Rock River including Rockford, Dixon and Rock Falls-Sterling as well as the nearby countryside in Winnebago, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside Counties as well as the eastern portions of Carroll County.)

Cities

• 1 Rockford
• 2 DeKalb
• 3 Dixon - childhood home of US President Ronald Reagan
• 4 Utica
• 5 Galena - home of Ulysses S. Grant and many other historical facts
• 6 Stockton - small town filled with history
• 7 Sterling-Rock Falls
• 8 Sycamore
• 9 Harvard

Other destinations

• Starved Rock State Park

Understand

Northern Illinois is generally considered to be the area of Illinois north of I-80 and outside of Chicagoland. Definitions might slightly differ to include Kankakee and Grundy counties, which may also be considered part of Central Illinois. Culturally, the entire region is similar to many other rust belt rural areas. Residents tend to be politically conservative.