Woodridge is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, with small portions in Will and Cook counties, and a southwestern suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 34,158.
The village is just north of the I-55 junction with IL-53. Woodridge was incorporated on August 24, 1959, with less than 500 residents. It is named for its location in a wooded area above a steep hillside, locally known as "The Ridge," which overlooks the DuPage River's East Branch and the Des Plaines Valley.
Woodridge is a young community with the vast majority of its homes, businesses, and churches constructed after the 1950s. Woodridge was founded by a housing developer, Albert Kaufman, who was largely responsible for the creation of the village.
In July 2007, Woodridge was ranked No. 61 on Money magazine's "100 Best Places to Live". It uses the 630 and 331 area codes. Woodridge is the home of the Home Run Inn pizzeria chain and was the home of Pabst Brewing Company from 2006 to 2011.
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Woodridge has a total area of , of which (or 98.37%) is land and (or 1.63%) is water.
Woodridge is bordered by Naperville to the west, Downers Grove to the northeast, Darien to the east, Lemont to the south, Bolingbrook to the southwest, and Lisle to the northwest.
Climate and environment
Woodridge is in a humid continental climate zone. On average, July is the warmest month, and January is the coldest month. August typically has the most precipitation, and February the least. The record high for Woodridge was 105 °F (40.56 °C) in July 2005, and the record low of −26 °F (−32 °C) was set in January 1985.
Woodridge has been named a "Tree City" by the Arbor Day Foundation for the past 16 years, and a study undertaken in 1996 indicated that village has over 8,000 publicly owned trees.
On June 20, 2021, just after 11pm local time, Woodridge was struck by an EF-3 tornado. The storm damaged 225 homes in Woodridge and adjoining suburbs. The tornado also damaged the rectory of Saint Scholastica Church and demolished the rectory's garage. There were no fatalities and eight people were sent to area hospitals.