Matteson () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,073 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Chicago. History The area encompassed by modern Matteson was settled in the late 1800s, primarily by people of German descent. Platted in 1855, Matteson had nearly 500 residents when it incorporated as a village in 1889. The village's namesake is Joel Aldrich Matteson, who served as Illinois' tenth governor from 1853 to 1857. The 20th century saw improvements in plumbing, the electrification of the Illinois Central Railroad, and the construction of today's school district, resulting in significant population growth to more than 3,000 residents by the end of the 1960s. By 2000, Matteson was home to Lincoln Mall (opened 1973) and annexed 195 acres of land for the village. Today, Matteson is home to nearly 20,000 residents, hundreds of businesses, and the close proximity of two major hospitals, Matteson offer the best of suburban living. Matteson features a culturally diverse residential population, a growing business area with a vast amount of shopping centers, award-winning schools, surrounding universities, a state-of-the-art community center, and exceptional Village services. In 1995 the African-American community became an increasingly large component of Matteson. The village began a program to encourage white people to move to Matteson. By 2011 the community attracted many well to do African-Americans moving from Chicago. Matteson, which experienced increases in the average incomes in households in several census tracts, saw its African-American population increase by 85% and its white population decline by about 1,200 in the time period 2000-2010. Geography According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Matteson has a total area of , of which (or 99.64%) is land and (or 0.36%) is water. The village's topography is mostly flat. Matteson is bordered by Park Forest and Olympia Fields to the east, Country Club Hills and Tinley Park to the north, Frankfort to the west, and Richton Park to the south. Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 19,073 people, 7,628 households, and 4,454 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 7,457 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 82.60% African American, 10.04% White, 0.20% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.29% from other races, and 3.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.21% of the