"Madman" Muntz and Max Adler, founder of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, America's first planetarium. Local historian E. C. Alft wrote several books and a long-running newspaper column about Elgin's history. Geography Topography Elgin is located at (42.0384225, −88.3226510). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Elgin has a total area of , of which (or 98.52%) is land and (or 1.48%) is water. Climate On March 28, 1920, Elgin was struck by several tornadoes along the Fox River that caused significant damage to Chicago and several western suburbs. Twenty-three people were killed and several businesses and homes were destroyed, including the Opera House and Grant Theater. Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 114,797 people, 36,825 households, and 26,310 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 40,530 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 43.42% White, 6.60% African American, 2.40% Native American, 6.48% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 24.33% from other races, and 16.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 47.44% of the population. There were 36,825 households, out of which 69.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.29% were married couples living together, 13.59% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.55% were non-families. 24.15% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.43% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.60 and the average family size was 2.99. The city's age distribution consisted of 26.6% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $72,999, and the median income for a family was $82,334. Males had a median income of $41,402 versus $30,037 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,423. About 8.8% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over. Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This