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Ham radio operators in Illinois: new licenses by county

18,824 licensed amateur radio operators; 627 new in the past 12 months. Updated weekly from FCC data.

At a glance · Data as of

New hams · last 30 days
24
New hams · last 12 months
627
0% vs prior 12 mo
Active licensed hams
18,824
Upgrades · 12 mo
299
Vanity callsigns · 12 mo
183
Address updates · 12 mo
221
Often a move into the area
Expiring · next 6 mo
1,120

About ham radio in Illinois

Illinois added 627 new amateur radio operators in the past 12 months, compared with 629 the year before. Illinois ranks #12 of 52 states and territories for new licenses. Cook County leads the state with 155 new hams. Among larger counties, Champaign County is growing fastest. Technicians make up 43% of the state’s licensees, below the U.S. average of 48%, a sign of an experienced community with many HF operators.

New hams by month

New hams per month in Illinois, October 2025 to September 2026 631 in total. Highest: 89 in May 2026. Lowest: 4 in October 2025. Oct 2025: 4 new hams 4 Oct 2025 Nov 2025: 42 new hams 42 Nov Dec 2025: 58 new hams 58 Dec Jan 2026: 76 new hams 76 Jan 2026 Feb 2026: 56 new hams 56 Feb Mar 2026: 65 new hams 65 Mar Apr 2026: 87 new hams 87 Apr May 2026: 89 new hams 89 May Jun 2026: 60 new hams 60 Jun Jul 2026: 34 new hams 34 Jul Aug 2026: 35 new hams 35 Aug Sep 2026: 25 new hams 25 Sep
Complete calendar months only, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026. The current month is left out until it ends.
Show data table
New hams per month in Illinois
MonthNew hams
Oct 20254
Nov 202542
Dec 202558
Jan 202676
Feb 202656
Mar 202665
Apr 202687
May 202689
Jun 202660
Jul 202634
Aug 202635
Sep 202625
Total631

License classes

Active licensees in Illinois by license class, compared with U.S.
ClassHamsShareU.S.
Technician 8,15543%48%
General 5,03527%25%
Amateur Extra 4,37523%21%
Advanced 7864%3%
Novice / Other 4733%2%

Bar = Illinois share · Tick = U.S. share

In the past 12 months, 126 operators upgraded to General and 151 to Amateur Extra.

How Illinois compares

#12 of 52 states and territories for new hams in the past 12 months

Rates per 1,000 active licensees
Per 1,000 active hamsIllinoisU.S.
New hams, past 12 months33.332.3
Upgrades, past 12 months15.914.7
Expiring, next 6 months59.557.3

627 new hams in Illinois this past year. Get next month’s list free.

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Top 10 Illinois counties for new hams

Scroll sideways for more columns →

#CountyNew hams 12 moChange vs prior yearActive hamsNew per 1,000
1Cook County1550%4,26436.4
2DuPage County80▲ 23%1,66248.1
3Champaign County37▲ 54%49275.2
4Will County33▲ 22%1,03831.8
5Lake County28▼ 36%1,15524.2
6Kane County25▲ 4%86428.9
7McHenry County17▼ 11%71523.8
8Madison County16▼ 36%57527.8
9Kendall County15—22068.2
10Bond County12—115104.3

— in Change means fewer than 10 new hams the year before.

All Illinois counties

35 counties with their own page. Numbers are new hams in the past 12 months.

Smaller Illinois counties

These 67 counties have too few licensees or too little recent activity for a page of their own, so their numbers are listed here.

Show all 67 smaller counties
CountyActive hamsNew hams · 12 mo
Adams County1460
Alexander County120
Brown County100
Bureau County612
Calhoun County140
Carroll County300
Cass County150
Christian County812
Clark County331
Clay County361
Clinton County721
Coles County812
Crawford County433
Cumberland County250
De Witt County381
Douglas County350
Edgar County220
Edwards County140
Fayette County530
Ford County170
Fulton County681
Gallatin County80
Greene County181
Hamilton County120
Hancock County783
Hardin County120
Henderson County100
Henry County943
Iroquois County510
Jasper County120
Jersey County502
Jo Daviess County410
Johnson County453
Knox County641
Lawrence County220
Livingston County542
Macoupin County1102
Marshall County211
Mason County330
Massac County732
McDonough County691
Menard County310
Mercer County300
Monroe County742
Montgomery County730
Morgan County472
Moultrie County431
Ogle County1311
Perry County321
Piatt County570
Pike County380
Pope County120
Pulaski County160
Putnam County280
Randolph County400
Richland County540
Saline County770
Schuyler County120
Scott County70
Shelby County311
Stark County60
Wabash County370
Warren County361
Washington County290
Wayne County522
White County220
Woodford County1253

Neighboring states

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Figures may be reused with credit to Ham Recruiter (CC BY 4.0).

Questions about hams in Illinois

How many ham radio operators are in Illinois?

18,824 active amateur radio licensees are on file for Illinois as of Oct 1, 2026.

How many new hams were licensed in Illinois last year?

627 people in Illinois received their first FCC amateur radio license in the 12 months ending Oct 1, 2026.

Which Illinois counties have the most new hams?

In the past 12 months: Cook County (155), DuPage County (80) and Champaign County (37).

Where does this data come from?

From the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) public amateur license database, which we download every Monday. Addresses are matched to counties with the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder. This page shows totals only.

Can I see the names or call signs on this page?

No. Public pages show totals only. Verified Ham Recruiter users can search and export lists for outreach; see how licensee information is handled.

About this data

Data as of . Source: FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) weekly amateur license database; county from U.S. Census Bureau geocoding. Aggregates only, no individual licensee data is shown. Aggregate figures © Ham Recruiter, CC BY 4.0.

How we count

  • New ham: an active licensee whose first license was granted in the period.
  • Address updates: a change of FCC mailing address, often a move into the area.
  • Counts use each licensee’s current FCC address. Someone licensed here who later moved is counted where they live now.
  • Each license keeps only its most recent event of each type, so two upgrades in one year count once.
  • PO-box-only addresses often can’t be matched to a county, so rural counties are slightly undercounted.

100% of Illinois licensees could be matched to a county.