North Chicago is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 30,759 at the 2020 census making it the 2nd largest city by population in the county, after Waukegan. North Chicago is home to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and Great Lakes Barracks Military housing. The city is also home to Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, which houses the Chicago Medical School, the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, the College of Pharmacy, the College of Health Professions, and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. North Chicago in the past was an important center of industry, and that past is reflected within the landscape as the area is still heavily industrialized today. Geography North Chicago is located at . According to the 2010 census, North Chicago has a total area of , of which (or 99.81%) is land and (or 0.19%) is water. The city is situated on Lake Michigan, immediately to the south of Waukegan. Most of its territory drains directly to the lake, but the western region drains to the North Branch of the Chicago River, and ultimately, since the engineering projects of the 19th century, to the Illinois and thence to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. North Chicago includes a Lake County Forest Preserve unit, the Greenbelt Cultural Center and Forest Preserve. Major streets Tri-State Tollway Skokie Highway Waukegan Road Green Bay Road Sheridan Road Buckley Road Casimer Pulaski Road Argonne Drive 14th Street Jackson Street Lewis Avenue Martin Luther King Junior Drive (formerly 22nd Street) History Land speculators moved into the area south of what is now the city of Waukegan in the 1890s. Industrial development began almost immediately with a railroad depot being set up in 1892; most notable was the arrival of the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company, a major barbed wire maker. The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1895 and as a city in 1909. In 1911, a naval training area was created, the present Great Lakes Naval Training Center, currently the only "boot camp" for Navy enlisted personnel after the closure of facilities in Florida, California, and Houston, MS. A Veteran's Administration hospital went into service in 1926. This facility was also threatened with closure in recent years, but has been retained on condition of merger with the Naval Hospital.