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Where am ILOCATED

Ottawa, IL Micro Area

The Ottawa, IL micro area is made up of 3 counties in Illinois: LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam, largest first. About 145,902 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 1.8% fewer than in April 2020.

Bureau County, centralLaSalle County, centralPutnam County, outlyingOttawa
Central Outlying 3 counties in Illinois
Population, July 2025
145,902 1.8% fewer than in April 2020
Type
Micropolitan statistical area
Counties
3: 2 central, 1 outlying
Land area
2,164 sq mi (5,605 km²)
Time zone
Central TimeUTC-06:00 in January; UTC-05:00 in July
State
Illinois
Combined statistical area
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
CBSA code
36837
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Ottawa, IL micro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
LaSalle CountyCentral107,77373.9%
Bureau CountyCentral32,51022.3%
Putnam CountyOutlying5,6193.9%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of 10,000 to 49,999 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Ottawa18,447 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 4 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area9,434,123 people
  2. Kenosha, WI Metro Area168,448 people
  3. Michigan City-La Porte, IN Metro Area111,294 people
  4. Kankakee, IL Metro Area105,525 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Pontiac, IL Micro Area33 mi south
  2. Dixon, IL Micro Area48 mi northwest
  3. Sterling, IL Micro Area55 mi northwest
  4. Peoria, IL Metro Area59 mi southwest
  5. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area68 mi northeast
  6. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL Metro Area93 mi west

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗