Loves Park, Illinois

Loves Park is a city in Boone and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Most of the city is in Winnebago County, with a tiny sliver in the east located in Boone County. The population was 23,397 at the 2020 census.

Loves Park is part of the Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Malcolm Love, an industrialist in Rockford, Illinois, purchased 236 acres of land in this area in 1901 and set up a gathering place that came to be known as Love's Park. The city of Loves Park was incorporated in 1947. When the city's economy was negatively affected by the early 1980s recession, City Hall was moved from the Grand Avenue fire station into the Marshall Middle School to save money. In 2001, Danfoss moved their plant from Rockford to Loves Park, becoming one of the town's largest employers.

Geography
Loves Park is located at 42.32611°N, -89.02583°W (42.326227, -89.025739).

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Loves Park has a total area of 16.85 sqmi, of which 16.33 sqmi (or 96.86%) is land and 0.53 sqmi (or 3.14%) is water.

Demographics
As of the 2020 census there were 23,397 people, 9,608 households, and 6,138 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,388.22 PD/sqmi. There were 10,640 housing units at an average density of 631.30 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 79.42% White, 5.48% African American, 0.30% Native American, 3.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.92% from other races, and 8.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.89% of the population.

There were 9,608 households, out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.69% were married couples living together, 15.02% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.12% were non-families. 29.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.39% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 2.41.

The city's age distribution consisted of 21.7% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $57,096, and the median income for a family was $66,914. Males had a median income of $49,182 versus $28,021 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,504. About 9.9% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
RMTD provides bus service on Routes 16, 17, 18, 20 and 22 connecting Loves Park to downtown Rockford and other destinations.

Notable people

 * Dick Kulpa, cartoonist
 * Robin Zander, lead singer of the rock band Cheap Trick.