Rantoul is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,371 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Robert Rantoul, Jr., a U.S. representative from Massachusetts, and a director of the Illinois Central Railroad. Rantoul was laid out in 1854 for the Illinois Central Railroad by John Penfield. A post office was established in 1856 as Rantoul Station; the name was changed to Rantoul in May 1862. In 1917, Rantoul was chosen by the United States Army to be the site of Chanute Field, due to its proximity to the Illinois Central railroad and the War Department's ground school at the University of Illinois. In the 1930s, Chanute Field grew, dominating the local economy as thousands of airmen were stationed there to train recruits. Renamed Chanute Air Force Base after World War II, it was closed in 1993, but was partly reoccupied by the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum, which was permanently closed on December 30, 2015, and the Rantoul National Aviation Center. Rantoul's economy has taken a sharp decline due to the base's closing, from which it has never recovered. The book Eye of the Storm: Chanute Closes by Katy B. Podagrosi tells the story of this period. Rantoul Family Sports Complex opened in August, 2021 as a premier amateur sports facility featuring 10 all weather baseball / softball and 8 all weather multi-purpose fields. The complex plays host to thousands of amateur teams for tournament and local play. It also serves as home field for the University of Illinois "Fighting Illini" men's lacrosse team. Geography Rantoul is located at (40.304600, -88.152070). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Rantoul has a total area of , of which (or 98.79%) is land and (or 1.21%) is water. Climate Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 12,371 people, 5,137 households, and 2,947 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 5,639 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 54.60% White, 22.50% African American, 0.61% Native American, 1.20% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 10.16% from other races, and 10.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.44% of the population. There were 5,137 households, out of which 63.11% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.09% were married couples living together, 21.00% had a female householder