Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs in Chicago
Chicago: Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs was 2,539 Degree days in 2025. ▼ Falling
Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs in Chicago, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Degree days.
Analysis
In 2025, cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Chicago stood at 2,539 Degree days.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 11.4% on the previous year and down 5.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Chicago peaked at 3,307 Degree days in 1972 and was at its lowest, 2,172 Degree days, in 2012.
Chicago ranks 162nd of 1314 regions on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 76 years of available data.
Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs in Chicago, year by year
| Year | Degree days | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 3,058 Degree days | — |
| 1951 | 3,049 Degree days | -0.3% |
| 1952 | 2,709 Degree days | -11.2% |
| 1953 | 2,472 Degree days | -8.7% |
| 1954 | 2,726 Degree days | +10.3% |
| 1955 | 2,821 Degree days | +3.5% |
| 1956 | 2,727 Degree days | -3.3% |
| 1957 | 2,836 Degree days | +4.0% |
| 1958 | 3,012 Degree days | +6.2% |
| 1959 | 3,053 Degree days | +1.4% |
| 1960 | 3,022 Degree days | -1.0% |
| 1961 | 2,882 Degree days | -4.6% |
| 1962 | 3,155 Degree days | +9.5% |
| 1963 | 3,187 Degree days | +1.0% |
| 1964 | 2,790 Degree days | -12.5% |
| 1965 | 2,908 Degree days | +4.3% |
| 1966 | 3,004 Degree days | +3.3% |
| 1967 | 3,003 Degree days | -0.0% |
| 1968 | 2,848 Degree days | -5.2% |
| 1969 | 3,225 Degree days | +13.2% |
| 1970 | 3,052 Degree days | -5.4% |
| 1971 | 2,923 Degree days | -4.2% |
| 1972 | 3,307 Degree days | +13.1% |
| 1973 | 2,516 Degree days | -23.9% |
| 1974 | 2,729 Degree days | +8.5% |
| 1975 | 2,750 Degree days | +0.8% |
| 1976 | 3,047 Degree days | +10.8% |
| 1977 | 2,931 Degree days | -3.8% |
| 1978 | 3,298 Degree days | +12.5% |
| 1979 | 3,152 Degree days | -4.4% |
| 1980 | 3,079 Degree days | -2.3% |
| 1981 | 2,802 Degree days | -9.0% |
| 1982 | 2,999 Degree days | +7.0% |
| 1983 | 2,843 Degree days | -5.2% |
| 1984 | 2,894 Degree days | +1.8% |
| 1985 | 2,999 Degree days | +3.6% |
| 1986 | 2,706 Degree days | -9.8% |
| 1987 | 2,484 Degree days | -8.2% |
| 1988 | 2,949 Degree days | +18.7% |
| 1989 | 3,059 Degree days | +3.7% |
| 1990 | 2,414 Degree days | -21.1% |
| 1991 | 2,597 Degree days | +7.6% |
| 1992 | 2,655 Degree days | +2.2% |
| 1993 | 2,875 Degree days | +8.3% |
| 1994 | 2,824 Degree days | -1.8% |
| 1995 | 2,893 Degree days | +2.4% |
| 1996 | 3,049 Degree days | +5.4% |
| 1997 | 2,878 Degree days | -5.6% |
| 1998 | 2,203 Degree days | -23.5% |
| 1999 | 2,523 Degree days | +14.5% |
| 2000 | 2,729 Degree days | +8.1% |
| 2001 | 2,522 Degree days | -7.6% |
| 2002 | 2,674 Degree days | +6.0% |
| 2003 | 2,814 Degree days | +5.2% |
| 2004 | 2,612 Degree days | -7.2% |
| 2005 | 2,710 Degree days | +3.7% |
| 2006 | 2,391 Degree days | -11.8% |
| 2007 | 2,675 Degree days | +11.9% |
| 2008 | 2,994 Degree days | +11.9% |
| 2009 | 2,840 Degree days | -5.1% |
| 2010 | 2,689 Degree days | -5.3% |
| 2011 | 2,675 Degree days | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 2,172 Degree days | -18.8% |
| 2013 | 2,959 Degree days | +36.3% |
| 2014 | 3,282 Degree days | +10.9% |
| 2015 | 2,684 Degree days | -18.2% |
| 2016 | 2,467 Degree days | -8.1% |
| 2017 | 2,409 Degree days | -2.3% |
| 2018 | 2,890 Degree days | +20.0% |
| 2019 | 2,861 Degree days | -1.0% |
| 2020 | 2,504 Degree days | -12.5% |
| 2021 | 2,485 Degree days | -0.8% |
| 2022 | 2,779 Degree days | +11.8% |
| 2023 | 2,396 Degree days | -13.8% |
| 2024 | 2,279 Degree days | -4.9% |
| 2025 | 2,539 Degree days | +11.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 2,846 Degree days | 2,472 Degree days | 3,058 Degree days | 10 |
| 1960s | 3,002 Degree days | 2,790 Degree days | 3,225 Degree days | 10 |
| 1970s | 2,970 Degree days | 2,516 Degree days | 3,307 Degree days | 10 |
| 1980s | 2,881 Degree days | 2,484 Degree days | 3,079 Degree days | 10 |
| 1990s | 2,691 Degree days | 2,203 Degree days | 3,049 Degree days | 10 |
| 2000s | 2,696 Degree days | 2,391 Degree days | 2,994 Degree days | 10 |
| 2010s | 2,709 Degree days | 2,172 Degree days | 3,282 Degree days | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,497 Degree days | 2,279 Degree days | 2,779 Degree days | 6 |
More reference data data for Chicago
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree 173.34 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in cooling -59.97 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in heating -204.02 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in heating 56.04 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs, annual growth rate 11.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in cooling -533.66 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree -29.86 % change on previous year (2025)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Extreme precipitation days 9.95 Days per year (2024)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation 0.1892 Days per year (2024)
- Dependency ratio - Cities and FUAs 25.8 Percentage of population aged 15-64 years (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Chicago?
- Cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Chicago was 2,539 Degree days in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas recorded in Chicago?
- The highest recorded value was 3,307 Degree days in 1972.
- What is the lowest cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas recorded in Chicago?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,172 Degree days in 2012.
- How does Chicago rank for cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas?
- Chicago ranks 162nd out of 1314 regions with data for 2025.
- Is cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas rising or falling in Chicago?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Chicago data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 76 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
This dataset provides indicators of Cooling and Heating Degree Days (CDDs and HDDs) for FUAs and cities. CDDs and HDDs are measurements used to estimate energy usage based on outdoor temperature. CDD measures the demand for cooling, while HDD measures the demand for heating, both calculated relative to a baseline temperature. Data sources and methodology The indicators use 0.1-degree resolution grids from the ERA5-Land dataset. ERA5-Land is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (0.1 degree), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators also where national meteorological data are not available at the required scale. Annual CDDs are the sum over a year of the differences between the daily mean outdoor air temperature and the threshold temperature when the outdoor temperature is above the threshold temperature. HDDs are the sum over a year of the differences between the threshold temperature and the daily mean outdoor air temperature when the outdoor temperature is below the threshold temperature. Threshold temperatures are set to 22°C for CDDs and 15°C for HDDs. These estimates may differ from official subnational climate statistics due to differences in methodological approaches, such as the use of reanalysis based top down modelling versus in situ observations, along with variations in input data sources, spatial resolution, and the models and algorithms used to generate temperature estimates. Defining FUAs and cities The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised definition of functional urban areas (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns (OECD, 2012). FUAs consist of: A city – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city. A commuting zone – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city. The delineation process includes: Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA. Excluding non-contiguous municipalities. The correspondence table between SAUs and FUAs/cities is available in parquet and csv format. The definition identifies 1 272 FUAs and 1 269 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries. Cite this dataset OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs), http://oe.cd/geostats Further information OECD Local Data Portal OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance For questions and/or comments, please email CitiesStat@oecd.org