🍀Naperville Named One of the Most Irish Cities in the Country!🍀

I have to be honest, while I expect to see Naperville top the various different “best places to live” lists, I was ready to see them on top of the most Irish list! But, wouldn’t ya know it! There they are!

Among the largest 200 cities in the country, Naperville ranks 11th most Irish overall! Unsurprisingly, Chicago is ranked 2nd, just behind New York.

But what makes Naperville so Irish? Well…there’s a ton of Irish! According to the numbers this study looked at, Naperville has the highest share of Irish population in the country, just over 15%! Only New York, Chicago and Boston ranked higher in “community rank” thanks to the sheer volume of Irish folk.

Besides Irish bloodlines, Lawn Starter also looked into things like access to Irish pubs, dance schools, and social groups among 10 total indicators of Irishness.

You have to hand it to Naperville for their St. Paddy’s celebrations too! The parade is always a favorite, and you can always find a bar with pipes and drums and dancers from the McNulty School of Irish Dance.

I’ll never forget when I handled promotions here at The River and I enlisted the help of a VERY large flatbed truck to be our float in the Naperville St. Patrick’s Day parade. Looking back…it may have been a little TOO LARGE as they had to move people out of the way so we can make some of the tight turns in downtown Naperville. We actually did some live karaoke with the crowds as we rolled by. It sure was fun!

Since the study included the largest 200 cities in the country, where did our other large suburbs rank?

Well, Joliet came in at #51 and Aurora at #98, which is still in the upper half. Rockford is #68 on the list.

You can check out the entire rankings and how the numbers fall at LawnStarter.com.