The map above is centered on Chicago, United States, near the Loop, with a default 10 mi radius. Drag to move it, search for a different address, or change the radius and unit using the controls.
A 10-mile radius from the Loop reaches Cicero (~7 miles west) and Oak Park (~8 miles west), along with Hyde Park (~6 miles south) and the rest of the near South Side. Lake Michigan sits directly east of downtown, so much of the eastern half of any radius drawn near the Loop falls over open water. Use the radius below for catchment, comp, and trade-area work; switch to the Drive Time Map for honest commute planning. Distances here are straight-line from the Loop — the same way the radius map measures them.
Population figure: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171), Table P1.
Chicago is laid out on a numbered street grid centered at State and Madison, with addresses counting up by 100 per block from that zero point. That regular layout makes it easy to sketch a service area outward from downtown in each direction without a tape measure.
Also known as: Chi-town, The Windy City, The Second City.
Coverage at common radii, including notable places that fall just outside the circle. Use these as a quick reference — check exact boundaries before relying on a circle for real-estate, retail, or service-area decisions.
Place locations: USGS GNIS and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Distances are straight-line (great-circle) from the Loop, the same way the radius map measures them.
A 1-mile radius from State and Madison reaches across the Loop and the surrounding downtown core, out to the near edges of the West Loop and the Near South Side.
A 5-mile radius covers the near North Side through Lincoln Park, the West Loop, and the near South Side, with Lake Michigan taking the eastern portion of the circle.
A 10-mile radius from the Loop reaches Cicero and Oak Park to the west and Hyde Park to the south, covering the Loop, Near South Side, Lincoln Park, Hyde Park, Cicero, and Oak Park. Evanston and Skokie sit a couple of miles past the northern edge.
A 25-mile radius reaches Evanston and Skokie to the north and out to Wheaton on the western edge, adding those suburbs to everything inside the 10-mile circle. Schaumburg and Naperville sit just past the edge; Joliet and Aurora are well beyond.
A 50-mile radius from the Loop reaches the collar-county ring — Schaumburg, Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, and Waukegan all fall comfortably inside. A large share of the area to the east is over Lake Michigan. Rockford and Milwaukee remain well outside.
City-specific scenarios where a radius is the right tool — and a sensible radius to start with.
A retail trade-area study from a near-lake location has to account for the fact that Lake Michigan is not customer geography. Reduce the population estimate to the land area inside the radius rather than using the full circle when the center is downtown or along the lakefront.
Suggested starting radius: 5–10 mi for primary retail trade
Chicago's regular numbered grid makes it easy to translate a radius into a service area for delivery and field-service teams. Draw the circle from State & Madison and read off how far it reaches in each direction — a quick estimate dispatchers can give without studying a detailed map.
Suggested starting radius: 3–5 mi (city), 10–15 mi (metro)
Commuter rail lines fan out from downtown along several spokes. When using the radius for property or retail screening in the outer ring, cross-reference it with the Drive Time Map and station locations rather than relying on straight-line distance alone.
Suggested starting radius: 25 mi for the inner suburban rail ring
As a radius drawn from the Loop grows into the 25–50 mi range it pulls in the collar-county suburbs — Schaumburg, Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, and Waukegan — which differ from the city core on tax, zoning, and demographics. Use the radius to see the footprint, then screen those outer markets separately from the city inside the 10-mile circle.
Suggested starting radius: 25–50 mi to reach the collar-county markets
Local geography and infrastructure that change how a radius behaves here. Skipping these is the most common reason a radius decision goes sideways.
For radii drawn near the lakefront, a large share of the circle sits over open water. Population, retail, and service-area calculations should use a land-only adjustment, not the raw circle area.
Chicago's numbered grid is regular enough that a radius reads cleanly as a block count outward from State and Madison. Few cities make a radius-to-blocks estimate so easy.
Chicago's airports sit on different sides of the city rather than at a single downtown point. Draw a radius around whichever one your trip actually uses rather than assuming one center covers both.
A 5-mile radius from State and Madison covers the near North Side through Lincoln Park (~3 miles north), the West Loop, and the Near South Side (~2 miles south). Hyde Park, Cicero, and Oak Park all sit just past the edge, and a large part of the circle is over Lake Michigan.
A 10-mile radius reaches Hyde Park (~6 miles south), Cicero (~7 miles west), and Oak Park (~8 miles west), along with the Near South Side and Lincoln Park closer in. Evanston and Skokie (both ~12 miles out) sit just past the northern edge, and the outer suburbs are all outside.
Chicago's street grid is numbered and spaced regularly, so a radius reads cleanly as a block count outward from the center. State and Madison is the zero point, and addresses count up by 100 per block from there. Few US cities make a radius-to-blocks estimate this clean.
Because much of the eastern half of any radius drawn from downtown is over open water. For trade-area or service-zone math, use the land area inside the circle rather than the raw circle area when the center is in the Loop or further north along the lake.
A 25-mile radius captures Evanston and Skokie (both ~12 miles out) and reaches Wheaton (~25 miles west) on the edge. Schaumburg (~26 miles northwest), Naperville (~27 miles west), Joliet (~34 miles southwest), Waukegan (~35 miles north), and Aurora (~36 miles west) all sit just past it.
No. Milwaukee is about 81 miles north of the Loop. A 50-mile radius does reach the collar-county suburbs — Schaumburg, Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, and Waukegan — but Rockford (~80 miles west) and Milwaukee are both well outside.