Sorry, Illinois — Nickelodeon is currently the Land of Lincoln.

Its new animated series “The Loud House,” about 11-year-old Lincoln Loud and his 10 sisters, has drawn more kiddie viewers since its May 2 premiere than Nick’s perennial ratings champ “SpongeBob SquarePants” — and has already been renewed for a 14-episode second season.

“The Loud House” has averaged 981,000 viewers in the all-important kids 2-11 demo — 52,000 more viewers than “SpongeBob” — and has tied “SpongeBob” in total viewers (1.9 million apiece).

“The Loud House” creator Chris Savino, 44, answered some questions about his show’s breakout success — and about the inevitable comparisons to “SpongeBob.”

Why do you think “The Loud House” is resonating with viewers?

Because of the universality of the show. Not all kids have siblings, but all kids likely know and understand the themes and storylines we are generating. They are things that many kids go through at some time or another and can hopefully relate to.

How closely are the episodes based on your real life?

I am from a family with 10 kids — five boys and five girls. My sisters’ names all begin with “L” and each has only four letters: Lori, Lisa, Lynn, Luan and Lana. I took those and used them for five of Lincoln’s sisters. Lincoln’s name comes from the street I grew up on, Lincoln Avenue, in Royal Oak, Mich. Little snippets of my life experiences make their way into the stories, and I encourage everyone on staff to share memories as well.

Were you influenced by any particular animated show?

The look of “The Loud House” is inspired by the Sunday comics I read as a kid. There was something special about opening up the funnies and knowing that the characters you love would be there week after week inviting you into their world. That was what I wanted to achieve for “The Loud House” — a warm, familiar and inviting environment (much like my house growing up) where you could be invited in and immediately accepted into the world where you want to hang out and get to know all of the characters.

Are you nervous about dethroning “SpongeBob SquarePants” in kids 2-11?

We don’t have sibling rivalry with our shows the way the kids in “The Loud House” do. We’re all one family and it’s great that so many of us are succeeding. Being in the company of “SpongeBob” means we are doing incredibly well.

I understand you originally envisioned “The Loud House” as centered around a family of rabbits. Why did you change this?

I thought telling the story of a boy rabbit with 25 sisters would be fun, cartoony and chaotic. I really wanted to do funny animals, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized a human family was the right way to go.

“The Loud House” airs at 5 p.m. weekdays on Nickelodeon