[4] Located in the Rust Belt, the area is one of few in the region whose economy quickly became dependent on the headquarters of several large corporations due to its close proximity to Chicago.

As quarries closed in the 1990s, land that was formerly used for mining and plants was converted into mixed-use, master-planned developments to meet the growing tax base.

[5] The county has a mixed socioeconomic profile and residents of Hinsdale, Naperville and Oak Brook include some of the wealthiest people in the Midwest.

By 1800, the Potawatomi had established 4 major villages along local rivers within the county, and had a network of trails crisscrossing the area.

The first European-American settlers arrived in what is now DuPage County in 1832, and the Potawatomi population was forced out of the region only one year later after ceding their land in the Treaty of Chicago.

The most common Asian ancestries in the county are Indian (59,305, or 6.4% of the total population), Filipino (20,141, 2.2%), Chinese (17,031, 1.8%), and Pakistani (11,046, 1.2%).

[30] The top countries of birth for immigrants in DuPage County are Mexico (36,146), India (35,486), Poland (14,107), the Philippines (11,352), and China (10,116).

There is also a large Catholic population, the county being part of the Diocese of Joliet and the National Shrine of St Therese in Darien.

[35] There are Hindu temples in Bartlett, Bensenville, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Itasca and Medinah, and an Arya Samaj center in West Chicago.

In addition, many of DuPage County's towns have prosperous and quaint downtown areas, especially in Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst, Wheaton, Downers Grove and Hinsdale, which are mixed with boutiques, upscale chain stores and restaurants.

Fermilab, which has the world's second-highest-energy particle accelerator,[40] is in Batavia, where it straddles the border between Kane and DuPage counties.

Some of the better-known bands to come out of the area include The Hush Sound, Lucky Boys Confusion, and Plain White T's.

[51] In addition to showing movies, the Tivoli is home to several local performing arts groups.

[52] The McAninch Arts Center located on the Glen Ellyn campus of the College of DuPage also presents a variety of music, dance, theater and comedy year round both on its three indoor stages and its outdoor Lakeside Pavilion.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County owns and manages 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of prairies, woodlands and wetlands.

More than 4 million visitors each year enjoy 60 forest preserves, 145 miles of trails, and five education centers.

In the 1980s, DuPage County also had another major attraction, Ebenezer Floppen Slopper's Wonderful Water slides in Oakbrook Terrace, which today, stands abandoned and neglected.

Each district elects three members to the County Board in staggered two-year and four-year terms.

[56] DuPage County was historically a stronghold of the Republican Party, and a classic bastion of suburban conservatism.

DuPage County voters backed Pritzker in his 2022 re-election bid by a large margin.

DuPage County has historically been a fiscally and socially conservative Republican stronghold, though in recent years has become more politically liberal especially on issues of race and immigration.

Donald Trump was the first Republican nominee for president since 1912 to get less than 40% of the DuPage County vote, both in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.

Many DuPage County communities which normally vote Republican, including but not limited to Naperville, Lisle, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Downers Grove, and Elmhurst did not support Donald Trump in 2016.

[61] In December 2019, shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump, Carol Stream-based Christianity Today published a controversial editorial calling for the removal of Trump from office, citing the need to hold him to the same standards to which they held Bill Clinton in the 1990s (who was the last Democratic nominee for president to get less than 40% of the DuPage County vote).

[63] Republicans historically controlled local politics in DuPage County from the nineteenth century until modern times.

In the Democratic wave of 1974, Jane Spirgel, Mary Eleanor Wall, and Elaine Libovicz were elected.

[69] Eventually, Republicans regained all seats on the board when Jane Spirgel ran for Illinois Secretary of State with Adlai Stevenson III under the Solidarity Party banner.

In the 2018 general election, Democrats won seven seats as well as the offices of County Clerk and Forest Preserve District President.

This feat would not be replicated until 2017 when Democratic candidates won a majority of offices in Naperville and Lisle townships.

[82] DuPage County has nine townships as well as part of an independent city within its boundaries, their populations at the 2010 census are: