Carol Stream is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. It was incorporated on January 5, 1959, and named after the daughter of its founder, Jay Stream. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,854.

In 1853, St. John Wahlund Catholic Church was built in what was then referred to as Gretna. The church was closed in 1867. When St. Michael's was opened in Wheaton in 1872, St. Stephen's parishioners were transferred to that parish. The church building was dismantled sometime in the late 19th century. St. Stephen's Cemetery was located adjacent to the church building and was last used for burial in 1910. St. Stephen's Cemetery (located north of the Great Western Trail behind the Ozinga concrete plant on St. Charles Road) was rededicated 100 years later on September 12, 2010.

In 1952, a farm from the area was featured on NBC; it was the site for the first outdoor telecast by the network in 1954.

A common misconception is that the municipality of Carol Stream was named for a local minor waterway. In fact, Carol Stream is one of the few communities in America that took its name from the first and last names of a living person: Carol Stream, the daughter of its founder Jay Stream. Carol Stream herself moved to Arizona as an adult, living there until her death on January 18, 2020.

Jay W. Stream (April 17, 1921 â€“ January 22, 2006), a military veteran who had previously sold insurance and ready-mix concrete, was in the mid-1950s heading Durable Construction Company. He became frustrated with red tape while negotiating a planned 350–400 home subdivision in nearby Naperville, Illinois. A Naperville clerk reportedly advised Stream to "build your own town", and in 1957, Stream began buying unincorporated farmland outside Wheaton. He hoped to allow people to work in the town they lived in, rather than have to commute to Chicago.

On August 26, 1957, Carol and three friends were returning from Racine, Wisconsin, in a 1949 Studebaker. While attempting to cross U.S. Route 45 in central Kenosha County, the car was struck in the right rear corner, killing 15-year-old Richard Christie of Chicago, the passenger seated there. Carol was ejected through the windshield and into a utility pole. Neurosurgeons at Kenosha Memorial Hospital said the comatose girl might never awaken or, if she did, would likely be severely handicapped. On advice of the doctors that her recovery might improve with good news, Jay decided to name the new community in her honor. After four months in a coma, Carol regained consciousness. Learning that the new village bore her full name, Carol said she thought it "odd and silly" at first (as she told Chicago Tribune reporter Eric Zorn in 1991).

Carol Stream was to be named Jacqueline Stream, but her parents changed her name to Carol when her due date fell near Christmas. She never lived in her namesake community, but moved from Wheaton, Illinois, to Arizona in 1957 following the end of her parents' marriage. She participated in municipal celebrations and rides in parades during anniversary celebrations of the municipality's 1959 incorporation, and she was frequently asked for autographs when she was in town. She died in Arizona on January 18, 2020.

One of the town's two middle schools, Jay Stream Middle School is named after the founder, Jay Stream, who died on January 22, 2006.

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Carol Stream has a total area of 9.44 square miles (24.45 km2), of which 9.12 square miles (23.62 km2) (or 96.64%) is land and 0.32 square miles (0.83 km2) (or 3.36%) is water.

As of the 2020 census there were 39,854 people, 14,209 households, and 10,339 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,223.16 inhabitants per square mile (1,630.57/km2). There were 14,870 housing units at an average density of 1,575.71 per square mile (608.39/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 57.06% White, 6.94% African American, 0.64% Native American, 18.73% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 7.93% from other races, and 8.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.19% of the population.

There were 14,209 households, out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.82% were married couples living together, 12.98% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.24% were non-families. Of all households, 21.30% were made up of individuals, and 11.47% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.25 and the average family size was 2.75.

The village's age distribution consisted of 21.0% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $89,820, and the median income for a family was $103,332. Males had a median income of $52,245 versus $38,920 for females. The per capita income for the village was $37,658. About 6.0% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

According to the Village's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

The Christian publishers Tyndale House and Christianity Today International are based in Carol Stream.

The United States Postal Service's Sectional Hub for ZIP Codes with the prefixes 601 and 603 is located in this town.

The Carol Stream Public Library was founded in 1977. The library features conference rooms, a create and learn center, vending cafe and an outdoor patio with a gazebo.

The Carol Stream Park District is responsible for building and maintaining public parks. There are 36 parks in the community, including:

The Great Western Trail (Illinois) passes through town.

Carol Stream is governed by a body known as the Legislative Board, which is composed of seven elected officials: a mayor and six trustees. Frank Saverino is the current mayor; his term of office runs from May 1, 2019, to April 30, 2023. The village clerk is also an elected position. The clerk's term of office is the same as the mayor's. A village administrator is appointed by the Legislative Board to manage the daily village operations.

Most students in Carol Stream attend school in the Consolidated School District 93, a K–8 district. The District 93 schools in Carol Stream are: Carol Stream School, Cloverdale School, Elsie Johnson School, Heritage Lakes, Western Trails, Roy DeShane, Stratford Middle School and Jay Stream Middle School. District 93 is only K-8; thus, students must attend a different district when they reach the high school level. They are served by Glenbard Township High School District 87 (the third-largest school district in Illinois), which includes Glenbard North, located in Carol Stream.

Part of the village is served by a unit school district, the Elgin Area School District U46. It serves an area of approximately 90 square miles (230 km2) in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. Almost 40,000 children of school age are in its area. District U-46 is the second-largest in Illinois. Spring Trail Elementary in Carol Stream serves in-district students for grades K-6. These students then attend Eastview Middle School (Bartlett, Illinois) for grades 7–8. High school students who live within the U-46 boundaries attend Bartlett High School.

The western section of the village is served by Benjamin School District 25, a small, two-school district. Evergreen Elementary School is located in Carol Stream while Benjamin Middle School is nearby in unincorporated West Chicago. Founded in the 1840s, Benjamin 25 is one of the oldest school districts in DuPage County. High school students from Benjamin attend West Chicago Community High School, District 94.

Some southeastern parts of Carol Stream attend CUSD200 in Wheaton. They go to either Franklin or Monroe for middle school, and then go to Wheaton North.

D-41, another school district which mainly serves Glen Ellyn, serves far southeast parts of Carol Stream (East Of Schmale Rd). There are five K–8 schools: Churchill (K–5, on Carol Stream–Glen Ellyn Border), Forest Glen (K–5 in Glen Ellyn), Lincoln (K–5, in Glen Ellyn), Franklin (K–5, in Glen Ellyn), Hadley (6–8, on the Glen Ellyn–Wheaton border). All Sstudents that live in Carol Stream and go to D-41 attend Glenbard West High School. Glenbard West is part of Glenbard Township High School District 87 (it also includes Glenbard North in Carol Stream, Glenbard East in Lombard, and Glenbard South, also in Glen Ellyn).

Carol Stream has six major roads running through the village. The most important of these is North Avenue, which runs relatively close to the center of Carol Stream. North Avenue is an east–west road which extends a further 30 miles east into Chicago as well as further west across the state. Army Trail Road and Geneva Road are the other major east–west roads.

Gary Avenue is a major north–south road to the commercial center of Bloomingdale and the Stratford Square Mall. County Farm Road also serves as a major commercial route for residents. Schmale Road serves a small commercial area on the southeastern side of Carol Stream. Kuhn Road also runs north–south, but is not that major.

Lies Road is a minor east–west road that bisects the village starting from Fair Oaks Road on the west to Schmale Road on the east. The portion from County Farm Road thru Kuhn Road to near Gary Avenue is the route for the annual Fourth of July parade.

A feeder line from the nearby Illinois Central Railroad serves the main industrial complex for Carol Stream. The old Gretna Railway Station had been renamed Carol Stream in 1962, the station manager of four years at the time, Frank S. Shilling, said he never found out why the station was named Gretna. The original building was preserved and moved to the Carol Stream Park District, where it serves as a museum and a home for the Carol Stream Historical Society.