Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA, Census Bureau · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Who heats with electricity where it is cold in Illinois?

910,214homes in Illinois heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

All 102 Illinois counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 18% of the 5,001,904 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. Rank 8 of 35 by count, 21 by share. Cook County holds the most: 328,605 electric-heated homes at 6,207 heating degree days.

Where Illinois sits among the states

Share of homes that heat with electricity in cold counties, by state, one tile per stateAlaska: no data in this seriesAKMaine: 10.1% of homesMEVermont: 8.1% of homesVTNew Hampshire: 10.7% of homesNHWashington: 57.7% of homesWAIdaho: 35.0% of homesIDMontana: 26.6% of homesMTNorth Dakota: 39.9% of homesNDMinnesota: 18.8% of homesMNIllinois: 18.2% of homesILWisconsin: 17.3% of homesWIMichigan: 11.6% of homesMINew York: 14.4% of homesNYRhode Island: 12.1% of homesRIMassachusetts: 17.9% of homesMAOregon: 53.1% of homesORNevada: 8.7% of homesNVWyoming: 23.3% of homesWYSouth Dakota: 32.6% of homesSDIowa: 24.3% of homesIAIndiana: 30.7% of homesINOhio: 25.6% of homesOHPennsylvania: 24.8% of homesPANew Jersey: 15.6% of homesNJConnecticut: no data in this seriesCTCalifornia: 2.0% of homesCAUtah: 16.4% of homesUTColorado: 25.2% of homesCONebraska: 31.2% of homesNEMissouri: 37.0% of homesMOKentucky: 49.5% of homesKYWest Virginia: 45.5% of homesWVVirginia: 32.2% of homesVAMaryland: 42.6% of homesMDDelaware: 37.0% of homesDEArizona: 0.9% of homesAZNew Mexico: 13.1% of homesNMKansas: 26.5% of homesKSArkansas: 1.9% of homesARTennessee: 9.9% of homesTNNorth Carolina: 5.6% of homesNCSouth Carolina: 0.0% of homesSCDistrict of Columbia: no data in this seriesDCOklahoma: 0.5% of homesOKLouisiana: 0.0% of homesLAMississippi: 0.0% of homesMSAlabama: 0.0% of homesALGeorgia: 0.4% of homesGAHawaii: no data in this seriesHITexas: 0.1% of homesTXFlorida: 0.0% of homesFL

Darker is a larger share. Illinois is outlined.

Illinois: cold counties and electric heat

Illinois cold counties, electric heating
Cook County2,084,57815.8328,6056,207-6%36.1
DuPage County349,49714.450,3066,330-5%5.5
Madison County109,38532.235,2174,777-4%3.9
Lake County256,66013.735,2106,583-6%3.9
St. Clair County101,27333.433,8504,574-5%3.7
Champaign County83,77738.131,9335,685-5%3.5
Kane County183,19611.821,6216,530-5%2.4
Will County241,3108.921,3596,111-4%2.3
Peoria County77,07425.419,5585,882-6%2.1
Williamson County28,77466.018,9964,477-5%2.1
Sangamon County84,29021.217,8315,398-4%2.0
McLean County69,07223.516,2195,875-6%1.8
Winnebago County115,44912.214,1286,716-5%1.6
Jackson County23,08856.413,0214,494-5%1.4
McHenry County116,32910.612,3746,787-5%1.4
Tazewell County53,81220.410,9725,719-6%1.2
Vermilion County30,18535.310,6595,701-4%1.2
Rock Island County61,19216.510,0766,253-5%1.1
Macon County43,33423.110,0125,524-5%1.1
Adams County27,77033.19,1955,500-5%1.0

Largest 20 of 102 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 82 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Cook County, DuPage County, Madison County, hold 45% of the 910,214 electric-heated homes in Illinois cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Williamson County at 66%. The coldest, Jo Daviess County, averages 6,836 heating degree days; Illinois as a whole averages 6,044 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Illinois cold counties, 12 largest

  • Cook County328,605
  • DuPage County50,306
  • Madison County35,217
  • Lake County35,210
  • St. Clair County33,850
  • Champaign County31,933
  • Kane County21,621
  • Will County21,359
  • Peoria County19,558
  • Williamson County18,996
  • Sangamon County17,831
  • McLean County16,219

Illinois: the 10 coldest counties

Jo Daviess County is coldest at 6,836 heating degree days with 10% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 102,533 electric-heated homes.

Illinois 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Jo Daviess County10,38510.36,8366,581
Stephenson County19,46916.26,8216,536
McHenry County116,32910.66,7876,422
Boone County19,15511.66,7786,428
Winnebago County115,44912.26,7166,375
Ogle County20,69515.56,6316,283
Carroll County6,47810.86,6136,320
DeKalb County39,31422.56,5886,291
Lake County256,66013.76,5836,183
Kane County183,19611.86,5306,220

Illinois: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Williamson County is highest at 66% and Hancock County is 10th at 37%.

Illinois 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Williamson County28,77466.04,4774,262
Johnson County4,13357.84,3224,118
Jackson County23,08856.44,4944,260
Franklin County16,13048.74,5614,270
Union County6,91445.74,3614,134
Coles County20,33542.55,3445,067
Perry County7,99439.74,6054,328
Jefferson County14,80538.94,7134,384
Champaign County83,77738.15,6855,383
Hancock County7,51537.15,6905,446

Winter disconnections and price in Illinois

Illinois utilities logged 0.02 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.34 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 17.69 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 177 dollars in Illinois.

Illinois in the ranking

Maryland is 6th with 996,863 homes (42.6% of its homes). Missouri is 7th with 919,771 homes (37.0% of its homes). Oregon is 9th with 904,332 homes (53.1% of its homes). Kentucky is 10th with 886,223 homes (49.5% of its homes).

Illinois beside 5 neighbors

Illinois neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Indiana824,33230.7%5,625
Iowa316,69624.3%6,736
Kentucky886,22349.5%4,435
Missouri919,77137.0%4,743
Wisconsin423,48717.3%7,487

Look up your Illinois county

  • Pick your Illinois county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Illinois homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

910,214 homes, 18.2% of 5,001,904 occupied Illinois homes, in 102 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

Which Illinois county has the most electric-heated homes among its cold counties?

Cook County, with 328,605 of its 2,084,578 homes (16%) at 6,207 normal heating degree days.

Which Illinois county is the coldest, and how many of its homes heat with electricity?

Jo Daviess County, at 6,836 normal heating degree days: 1,071 of 10,385 homes (10%).

How far did the last decade run from the Illinois normal?

Illinois cold counties averaged 5.2% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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910,214 homes in Illinois heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

Cite this page

Underlying data are U.S. government works (EIA, Census Bureau). Our tables and charts: CC BY 4.0, credit Electric Consumer. The access date fills in when you open this page.

APA

Electric Consumer. (2026). Illinois winter exposure: 910,214 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/illinois.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Illinois winter exposure: 910,214 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/illinois.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Illinois winter exposure: 910,214 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/illinois.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_illinois,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Illinois winter exposure: 910,214 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/illinois.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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