The district was created as part of the 28th United States Congress, which first met on March 4, 1843; it was initially represented by Stephen A. Douglas, whose Kansas–Nebraska Act prompted the creation of the Republican Party.

Two of those years came after Dan Rostenkowski lost his seat to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan because of the Congressional Post Office scandal.

However, Flanagan was defeated after only one term by State Representative Rod Blagojevich in 1996, and no Republican has managed even 35 percent of the vote in the district since then.

Outside of the Chicago city limits, this district takes in the Cook County communities of Inverness, Harwood Heights, Norridge, and Barrington (shared with Lake County; most of Arlington Heights, Barrington Hills, and Park Ridge; half of Des Plaines, Palatine, Mount Prospect, and Schiller Park; and part of Rosemont, Skokie, Niles, Glenview, Rolling Meadows, Prospect Heights, Buffalo Grove, Schaumburg (shared with DuPage County), Hoffman Estates, and South Barrington.

They are partitioned by the Fox River, Kelsey Rd, W Miller Rd, Echo Lake Rd, Sacomano Meadows Pond 1, Midlothian Rd, N Old Henry Rd, N Quentin Rd, Lake Zurich Rd, Twin Orchard Country Club, Mundelein Rd, Hicks Rd, Bridgewater Farm, Crossing Pond Park, and Arlington Heights Rd.