county

Mercer County, IL

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

AI Overview

Mercer County, IL is a small rural county of 15,619 residents with a labor force participation rate of 60.2% and a low unemployment rate of 3.1%; only 18.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, pointing to a workforce oriented toward trade and manual occupations. Median worker earnings stand at $42,173 against a median household income of $74,182, with housing costs remaining low—median home value of $139,300 and median gross rent of $757/month—and an 83.8% homeownership rate. The county has seen a slight population decline of 0.5% over five years, a poverty rate of 7.9%, and a median age of 44.7 years.

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

Population

15,619

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$74,182

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

44.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone14,589 (94.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races286 (1.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race283 (1.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone174 (1.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone93 (0.6%)
  • Asian Alone56 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish280
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic43
  3. 3.Arabic32
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island29
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)11

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,029

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$25,868

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$36,295

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

7.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,483
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,037
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)934
  4. 4.Construction (Group)784
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities479

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,393
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,535
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,231
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,125
  5. 5.Service Occupations1,123

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.92×)345
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.58×)807
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.36×)999
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.27×)1,026
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.26×)215

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$139,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$757/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

83.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999804 (14.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999687 (12.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999600 (10.9%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999536 (9.7%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999428 (7.8%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999322 (5.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$42,173

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

28.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,746 (79.1%)
  • Worked At Home734 (10.1%)
  • Carpooled581 (8.0%)
  • Walked172 (2.4%)
  • Other29 (0.4%)
  • Public Transit0 (0.0%)

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.