Amazon Is Expanding Drone Delivery to Illinois

On Wednesday, August 19, Amazon announced that drone delivery is expanding to 500 cities throughout the United States, including Chicago, and now many people are wondering, will my city or town be next?

Amazon Expanding Drone Delivery Services

Okay, I have to admit, I have some mixed feelings about this one.

Amazon's Prime Air drone delivery service is getting a massive expansion in the United States by the end of 2026, and since Chicago is on the list of cities getting the service soon, will Amazon drones be flying around Rockford soon?

Right now, there is no announcement about other Illinois cities besides Chicago getting Amazon drone delivery, but the company does say there are "more communities to come later this year," so I'm definitely keeping an eye on this.

How would this even work?

Amazon's Prime Air drones deliver small packages weighing 5 pounds or less, and Amazon says some orders could arrive in as little as 30 minutes, which is cool.

Amazon will focus its drone delivery service on suburban areas away from skyscrapers and major airports, and each delivery site can cover roughly 175 square miles. That's cool too, but I have some concerns.

Problems With Amazon Drone Delivery

When I consider Amazon's drone delivery service coming to Northern Illinois, my mind immediately jumps to two questions:

What happens when the weather is bad?
Will the drone noise drive me nuts?

Let's start with weather concerns. Severe storms, high winds, snow, and ice have a frustrating tendency to pop up out of nowhere in Illinois; what happens if a drone delivery gets caught in a storm?

According to an article from WGN TV:

The drones are “highly autonomous” and rely on “onboard cameras and sensors for navigation, obstacle detection, and safe delivery.

But, the one thing the Amazon delivery drones don't have is a live camera feed. Perhaps that will relieve some of your privacy concerns?

Speaking of concerns...

Amazon drone delivery service began in the Auburn Hills, Michigan area in November 2025, but over the last few months complaints from residents have really begun to roll in.

Auburn Hills Mayor Eugene Hawkins III told CBS News in Detroit:

There's always at least 8 to 10 drones going over houses per day, so they're kind of concerned about that. It's a constant buzzing sound once the drones are going over your home.

Amazon says its drones are quieter than a delivery truck idling on the road, and that the delivery to each house only takes around 30 seconds, but I'm pretty sure constantly having these drones buzz around my neighborhood is going to get annoying.

I guess the good news for now is, Rockford isn't officially on Amazon's drone expansion list yet, so we have time to wrap our heads around having these drones a part of our everyday lives.