When the North American Numbering Plan came out with an area code system for Chicago, the entire city was covered by area code 312, with the rest of northern Illinois carrying area code 815, central Illinois was 217, and southern Illinois was 618. In 1966, area code 309 was used for western central Illinois (no longer covered by area code 815). In 1990, area code 708 was used for all of the suburbs in the Chicago metro area (currently covered by 847/224, 630/331, and 708) while the city of Chicago kept the original 312. As recent as November 2009, the 872 area code was created, beginning an 11-digit dialing system within the city limits of Chicago.
Below is a list of area codes for Illinois and the areas that they cover:
•
217: Central Illinois, running east from the Illinois-Indiana border through Danville, Effingham, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Springfield, Quincy until Illinois' western border with Iowa
•
309: Central-Western Illinois including Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, and all the way west to the Illinois part of the Quad Cities including Moline, and Rock Island
•
312: Chicago, the central city area including the Chicago Loop and the Near North Side
•
630: West suburbs of Chicago in DuPage County and Kane County including Wheaton, Naperville, and Aurora; area code 630 was overlaid with area code 331 in 2007.
•
618: Southern Illinois, Carbondale, Illinois
•
708: South suburbs and inner west suburbs of Chicago, including the Chicago Southland and most west and south suburbs in Cook County such as Oak Park, Oak Lawn, Chicago Heights, and Orland Park
•
773: Chicago, covers most of the geographical area of Chicago except the downtown Chicago Loop, which is in area code 312
•
815: Northern Illinois outside of the immediate Chicago area including Joliet, Kankakee, LaSalle, DeKalb, and Rockford; area code 815 was overlaid with area code 779 in 2007.
•
847: North and northwest suburbs of Chicago including all of Lake County, as well as part of McHenry County and northern Cook County. This area includes Evanston, Des Plaines, Waukegan, and most of Elgin. Area code 847 was overlaid with area code
224 in 2002.
• 872: City of Chicago, overlaying area codes 312 and 773
Illinois Statistics
Illinois reported 12,910,409 residents as of 2009, with an increase of 4.0% from 2000 to 2009. 6.9% were children under 5 years of age in 2009, when the survey was last taken. 24.6% were under 18 in 2009. 12.4% were age 65 and over during the same year. 50.7% of the population was female in 2009. 79.0% of the population was white in the same year, while 14.9% was black, 4.4% were Asian, and 15.2% were Hispanic. 12.3% were foreign-born in 2009. 19.2% were over the age of 5 in 2000 and did not speak English at home. 81.4% were high school graduates over 25 as of the year 2000. 26.1% had a Bachelor’s degree or higher in the year 2000, and were over age 25. 1,999,717 had a disability and were over 5 years old as of 2000. There were 4,591,779 households in 2000 and 2.63 persons per household recorded. The median household income as of 2008 was $56,230. 12.2% were living below the poverty level in 2008. This is all according to the United States Census Bureau.
As of August 31, 2010, there were 47,970 prisoners within the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Conducting a Reverse Phone Number Lookup in Illinois
Depending on the type of reverse phone number research that is done, the search may be quite difficult. Landlines are usually easy because the phone number is tied to a place. Doing a reverse cell phone number is harder because numbers are portable – they can be transferred between carriers. Unlisted numbers are the hardest to research. The first step is to enter the number into a general search engine. Then, you can always try a phone directory online. Lastly, a paid reverse cell phone number website can help to find unlisted and all other cell phone numbers.
