DeKalb is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in DeKalb have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. DeKalb’s economy is one such example of this.
The education level of DeKalb citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 38.69% of adults in DeKalb have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in DeKalb in 2022 was $26,761, which is low income relative to Illinois, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $107,044 for a family of four. However, DeKalb contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
DeKalb is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call DeKalb home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of DeKalb residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. DeKalb also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 16.12% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in DeKalb include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in DeKalb is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
