Wilmette is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located 14 miles (23 km) north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 28,170 at the 2020 census. The first and only Baháʼí House of Worship in North America is located here. Wilmette is also home to Central Elementary School and Romona Elementary School, both recent recipients of the National Blue Ribbon award bestowed by the U.S. Department of Education.

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third-largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that of Lake Huron through the 3+1⁄2-mile (5.6-kilometer) wide, 295-foot deep Straits of Mackinac, giving it the same surface elevation as its easterly counterpart; geologically, the two bodies are a single lake that is, by area, the largest freshwater lake in the world.