county

Edwards County, IL

Demographic and economic profile of Edwards County, IL, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Edwards County is a small rural Illinois county of 6,118 residents with a labor force participation rate of 58.4% and an unemployment rate of 6.1%, reflecting a limited and contracting workforce — the population has declined 6.0% over five years. Educational attainment skews toward high school credentials (91.9% HS or higher) rather than four-year degrees (13.9%), and median worker earnings stand at $37,791. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $97,500 and median gross rent of $746/month, against a median household income of $60,519 and a poverty rate of 17.0%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

6,118

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$60,519

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

44.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-6.0% since 2018

Edwards County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone5,787 (95.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races163 (2.7%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race68 (1.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone29 (0.5%)
  • Asian Alone22 (0.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone6 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish76
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic19
  3. 3.Other Indo-European13
  4. 4.Vietnamese13
  5. 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)2

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

330

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$48,267

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,314

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)725
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance593
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining286
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)219
  5. 5.Other Services, Except Public Administration (Group)173

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations839
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations752
  3. 3.Service Occupations464
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations430
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations314

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 7.41×)321
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 2.60×)701
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.50×)192
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 0.96×)609
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 0.82×)131

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$97,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$746/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

79.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,999217 (10.3%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999178 (8.4%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999163 (7.7%)
  • $70,000 to $79,999159 (7.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999138 (6.5%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999133 (6.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

13.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,791

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,180 (78.2%)
  • Carpooled299 (10.7%)
  • Worked At Home133 (4.8%)
  • Walked122 (4.4%)
  • Other41 (1.5%)
  • Public Transit8 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.