Wheeling, Illinois

Wheeling is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 34,496 at the 2000 census, and 38,555 at the 2006 special village census.

Geography
Wheeling is located at °N, °W (42.131526, -87.929586).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 8.4 square miles (21.9 km²), of which, 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2006, there were 38,555 people, 13,280 households, and 8,459 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,106.5 people per square mile (1,585.6/km²). There were 13,697 housing units at an average density of 1,630.5 per square mile (629.6/km²). The racial make-up of the village was 47.7% White, 3.0% African American, 11.7% Asian, 3.4% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.2% of the population.

There were 13,280 households out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the village the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $55,491, and the median income for a family was $63,088. Males had a median income of $41,586 versus $32,262 for females. The per capita income for the village was $24,989. About 4.7% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
Wheeling has a station on Metra's North Central Service, which provides daily commuter rail service between Antioch, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station) Monday through Friday.

Chicago Executive Airport, a busy General Aviation airport, is located in both Wheeling and Prospect Heights and jointly run by both villages. Formerly known as Palwaukee Municipal Airport, it is the third busiest airport in Illinois, after Chicago's O'Hare and Midway Airports.

Climate
The climate in Wheeling, IL can be classified as temperate. Winters are usually very cold and snowy. Summers are often hot and humid, but can be pleasantly warm as well. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the months.

Library
Wheeling is served by the Indian Trails Public Library District and Prospect Heights Library District.

Schools
Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21 is located in Wheeling. It comprises five elementary schools and two middle schools. Elementary schools include Walt Whitman Elementary School, Robert Frost Elementary School, Booth Tarkington Elementary School, Mark Twain Elementary School and Eugene Field Elementary School. Middle schools include Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School and Jack London Middle School.

In addition to students from District 21, a small portion of students from Prospect Heights School District 23 attend Wheeling High School. Schools in this district include Betsy Ross Elementary School (K-2), Anne Sullivan Elementary School (3-5), Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School (K-5) and Douglas MacArthur Middle School (6-8).

Students from most of these schools and most of Wheeling attend Wheeling High School, though a small portion of students from Wheeling attend Buffalo Grove High School, in which both belong to Township High School District 214, which is Illinois' second largest high school district by enrollment. Students who attend MacArthur Middle School attend either Wheeling High School or John Hersey High School, another school in Township High School District 214. However all the students residing in Wheeling in Prospect Heights School District 23 attend only Ross, Sullivan and MacArthur and only attend Wheeling High School.

Students can also attend one of many private schools in town or in the area. J. Slowacki School serves pre-kindergarten through 11th grade. East Capitol High School serves grades 9-12. St. Viator High School also serves grades 9-12.

National-Louis University is an accredited, private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate institution of higher learning, organized in colleges of education, arts and sciences, and business and management. Worsham College of Mortuary Science is an accredited, private institution offering Associate Degrees and Diplomas in mortuary science. It will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary in October 2011. Solex College is an accredited, public independent college offering programs, certifications, degrees, and courses in medical, English, business, and job skills and certifications. William Rainey Harper College, based in Palatine, is the community college serving Wheeling.

Facilities
The Union Hotel was located on Milwaukee Avenue. It was built in 1856 and reconstructed following a fire in 1925. Over the years, the building evolved into several restaurants. Billy and Company, a restaurant, was the last occupant of the building, which was torn down in 1996 to make way for Union Commons condominiums.

Camp Ramah Day Camp is located in Wheeling.

Wheeling was also home to video game company Jaleco USA. Wheeling was also the location for the American branch of Taito Corporation

Popular Culture
Wheeling is the hometown of American Idol contestant Haley Reinhart and Bones star John Francis Daley.