The stability of our major employers, our healthcare professionals, our locally owned businesses, our numerous media providers and our central location in the state make Bloomington-Normal an exceptional place to call home.
The Cities of Bloomington-Normal are located in the heart of Central Illinois, approximately 125 miles southwest of Chicago, 155 miles northeast of St. Louis and 64 miles northeast of Springfield, the State Capital. Bloomington is the County Seat of McLean County, the largest county in Illinois, and is centrally located with access from Interstates 39, 55 and 74.
We are proud to be the home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University who offer the finest in higher education. State Farm Insurance, Mitsubishi Motors North America, COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services and Beer Nuts are just a few of the companies who are headquartered here in McLean County.
Population
City of Bloomington - 74,975
Town of Normal - 50,519
McLean County - 165,733
*Source: 2000 census figures plus 2005 Town of Normal special census and 2006 City of Bloomington special census.
What others think of Bloomington-Normal
In their most current rankings, Golf Digest ranked the Bloomington-Normal area as the Fifth Best American City for Golf in their “Best in America – Metro Golf Rankings”.
The book Cities Ranked & Rated listed Bloomington-Normal as No. 42 out of 400 metro areas citing the area’s small-town atmosphere, stable economy and educational attainment as pros of living in the Twin Cities.
Expansion Management rated Bloomington-Normal as one of 72 metro areas with a five-star quality of life, giving the community high rankings in areas such as standard of living, quality of schools and traffic and commute.
Forbes rates Bloomington-Normal No. 20 out of 200 as best small place for business.
Forbes also recently ranked Bloomington-Normal No. 20 on its list of the Smartest Cities in America.
A recent article on the CNNMoney Web site found that Bloomington-Normal had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at 2.7 percent (U.S. Average = 5.7 percent), and only 12 metropolitan areas had lower rates. 
Mostly Cloudy
