county

Jefferson County, IL

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

AI Overview

Jefferson County is a small, goods-producing county of 36,808 residents with a labor force participation rate of 58.4% and an unemployment rate of 6.6%, suggesting constrained workforce availability. Educational attainment is below national norms, with 18.4% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, while median worker earnings of $37,838 and a median home value of $118,400 reflect a low-cost operating environment. The county has seen a 3.6% population decline over five years, and a poverty rate of 14.2% points to ongoing economic stress, though a mean commute time of 19.7 minutes indicates reasonable access to the local labor pool.

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

Population

36,808

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$63,118

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.6% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone30,687 (84.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone2,272 (6.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,680 (4.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,096 (3.0%)
  • Asian Alone376 (1.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone317 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic531
  2. 2.Spanish431
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)126
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island57
  5. 5.Arabic49

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,196

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$48,216

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,541

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,769
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)2,949
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,085
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,378
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities1,181

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,761
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations3,798
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations3,171
  4. 4.Service Occupations3,102
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,508

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.09×)538
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.69×)2,715
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.30×)1,227
  4. 4.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.22×)454
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.08×)1,898

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$118,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$862/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,9991,231 (11.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,146 (10.8%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,066 (10.0%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999896 (8.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999843 (7.9%)
  • $90,000 to $99,999587 (5.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,838

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

19.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone13,212 (82.3%)
  • Carpooled1,585 (9.9%)
  • Worked At Home871 (5.4%)
  • Taxi113 (0.7%)
  • Walked106 (0.7%)
  • Other98 (0.6%)

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.