Kendall County, Illinois has a clear split in its 2025 land-cover pattern. Agriculture covers 72.68% and dominates the south, while developed land accounts for 20.62% and is concentrated much more heavily across the north and northeast. Forest is 4.51%, water 0.76%, and wetlands 0.71%. A mixed band of waterways, wooded patches, farms, and development crosses the central and western parts of the county.
Four map views are available here, and the four original JPG files can be downloaded together. The general map is best for the overall farm-versus-development pattern, the forest-and-farmland view isolates smaller natural corridors, the impervious map shows where hard surfaces are most concentrated, and the 1985–2025 map highlights classification differences over time.
Table of Contents
The developed northeast is the strongest departure from the county’s agricultural majority
The northeast contains the largest continuous developed area on the 2025 map. Red cover extends across much of the upper-right portion of the county, with additional developed clusters in the north-central area and smaller patches farther west. Agricultural land remains between some of these built areas, but the northern pattern is much more fragmented than the broad field blocks to the south.
South of the main developed belt, agriculture becomes much more continuous. The south-central, southwest, and southeast areas are dominated by large yellow field blocks, interrupted mainly by roads, a few small settlements, and scattered natural-cover patches. The difference is not a simple straight boundary; developed pieces extend into the middle of the county, while agricultural blocks remain inside the north. Even so, the directional contrast is easy to see.
The middle and west-central parts of Kendall County contain the most varied mix of classes. Water, forest, wetlands, developed land, and agriculture occur close together in a narrow corridor. Wooded strips follow parts of the water features, while nearby farm blocks and built areas create irregular edges. A second narrow natural-cover feature appears toward the southeast, where small forest and wetland patches interrupt otherwise broad cropland.
A 7.48% mean impervious value reveals strong differences inside the developed areas
Impervious surface measures hard cover such as pavement, parking areas, and rooftops where water does not readily soak into the ground. Kendall County has a mean impervious value of 7.48%, and 5.56% of the county reaches 50% impervious or greater. These values are much lower than the 20.62% developed-land share because a developed land-cover class can include lawns, trees, soil, and other permeable surfaces.
The darkest hard-surface values are concentrated in the northeast and upper-central developed areas. Several compact 80–100% patches sit inside broader 20–49% and 50–79% zones. Another noticeable cluster lies near the center, while smaller developed nodes appear in the southeast and southwest. Roads connect these areas with thin orange and red lines, but most of the southern farm landscape remains almost white.
Forest and water form narrow corridors rather than broad countywide cover
The forest-and-farmland map makes the 72.68% agricultural majority especially obvious. Cropland fills most of the south and much of the east, while developed or other land becomes a broad pale area in the north and northeast. Forest is only 4.51%, but green patches are concentrated along the west-central water corridor, in parts of the north, and in smaller groups near the center and southeast.
The west-central corridor is the most complex natural-cover feature on this map. Blue water sits beside green forest and teal wetland patches, and agricultural fields begin immediately beyond those narrow bands. Farther north, water and forest continue through areas that are otherwise dominated by developed or other cover. In the southeast, a smaller chain of wooded and wetland patches follows a different narrow path through cropland.
Grassland accounts for 0.30% and shrubland for 0.10%, so neither is a major countywide class. Their small patches can be useful when examining local edges, but they should not be treated as defining features of Kendall County. The main landscape story remains the large agricultural area, the northern developed belt, and the smaller water-forest-wetland corridors that separate or interrupt them.
Most of the 15.60% class difference is associated with cells classified as developed in 2025
The 1985–2025 map reports an overall class difference of 15.60%. Cells classified as developed in 2025 account for 10.17%, by far the largest single change category. Agricultural loss is 0.82%, forest loss is 0.06%, and other class difference is 4.50%. This distribution makes Kendall County unusual within this series because development-related differences dominate the summary rather than the catch-all “other” category.
Red developed differences are widespread across the northeast, north-central area, and several central clusters. Smaller red patches also appear along the eastern edge and around compact settlement nodes farther south. In contrast, much of the southern farm landscape remains in the no-difference class. That directional pattern lines up with the present-day contrast between the developed north and agricultural south, without by itself proving a specific development date or cause.
Purple other-class differences are mixed through the north and center, while yellow agricultural-loss cells appear as smaller scattered patches. Forest-loss cells are limited, consistent with the very small 0.06% summary value. A class difference can reflect real surface change, but imagery, vegetation, moisture, classification methods, and mixed pixels can also affect the result. Site-specific conclusions need supporting imagery or local records.
Which Kendall County map is most useful depends on the question
Use the general land-cover map when the goal is to explain the whole county at once. It places the agricultural south, developed north, water corridors, forest, and wetlands in one frame. The impervious map is better when the question is how intensively the developed areas are covered by pavement and rooftops, especially inside the large northeast and north-central clusters.
The forest-and-farmland view works well for environmental education, watershed reference, or presentations that need to separate cropland from narrower natural-cover bands. The change map should be kept conceptually separate because it compares two classification years rather than showing current land cover. In Kendall County, pairing the present-day developed map with the 10.17% developed-class difference can be informative, but it does not identify the exact timing or cause of every changed cell.
Thirty-meter raster cells can simplify narrow wooded strips, roads, and development edges
Annual NLCD products are commonly represented with roughly 30-meter raster cells. A raster divides the ground into a grid and assigns each cell a representative class or value. Where a cell contains several surfaces—such as cropland beside a road, forest beside water, or development beside lawns—the mapped result may simplify that mixed ground into one category.
This limitation matters along Kendall County’s narrow west-central water and forest corridor, around the edges of the developed northeast, and in the smaller southeast natural-cover patches. The map is not a parcel survey. Developed classes do not define zoning or building rights, forest colors do not identify ownership, and wetland colors do not establish legal wetland boundaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the clearest agriculture-development contrast in Kendall County?
Agriculture covers 72.68% and is broadest across the south, while the 20.62% developed share is concentrated much more heavily in the north and northeast. The central area contains a more mixed transition.
Why is developed land 20.62% while mean impervious cover is 7.48%?
Developed land-cover classes can include lawns, trees, soil, and other permeable surfaces. The highest hard-surface values are concentrated in the northeast, north-central area, and several smaller settlement nodes.
Does the 15.60% 1985–2025 class difference equal physical land-use change?
Not necessarily. Real surface change may be included, but imagery, vegetation, moisture, classification methods, and mixed pixels can also affect the comparison. Cells classified as developed in 2025 account for 10.17%.
Map File Information
The download combines four original JPG maps for Kendall County: 2025 land cover, forest and farmland, impervious/developed land, and the 1985–2025 land-cover class comparison.
- Included Versions: Land Cover Map, Forest & Farmland Map, Impervious/Developed Land Map, and 1985–2025 Land Cover Change Map
- File Type: One ZIP containing four JPG files
- Intended Use: agriculture/development comparison, water and forest corridors, impervious-surface review, class-change reference, printing, teaching, and presentations
Related Maps
- Adams County Illinois Land Cover Map
- Alexander County Illinois Land Cover Map
- Bond County Illinois Land Cover Map
Sources and references
- MRLC Annual NLCD Data – official access point for Annual NLCD land-cover and impervious-surface products.
- USGS Annual NLCD Land Cover Classification – official documentation for land-cover classes and raster interpretation.
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles – official geographic boundary source for Kendall County.
Green Map creates custom-edited map images using open geographic data sources such as geoBoundaries, Natural Earth, OpenStreetMap, and government open data.
These maps are edited visual materials, not raw data files, and are provided for education, documents, presentations, and graphic reference.
