county

Perry County, IL

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

AI Overview

Perry County is a small rural Illinois county of 20,810 residents with an economic profile centered on modest wage employment, with median worker earnings of $35,329 and a GDP per capita of $30,766. The labor force participation rate is notably low at 49.3%, and just 12.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, though 85.3% have a high school diploma; unemployment stands at 5.1% against a poverty rate of 16.9%. Housing costs are low—median home value of $105,200 and median gross rent of $714/month—with an 80.9% homeownership rate, though the county has shed 2.7% of its population over the past five years.

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

Population

20,810

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$62,118

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.7% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone17,644 (85.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,573 (7.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races605 (2.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race425 (2.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone308 (1.5%)
  • Asian Alone74 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish461
  2. 2.Other Indo-European117
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic62
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic20
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)10

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,299

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$30,766

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,720

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,562
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)940
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)820
  4. 4.Public Administration (Group)566
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities508

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,560
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,595
  3. 3.Service Occupations1,468
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,418
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations952

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.14×)406
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.64×)628
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.33×)2,517
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.29×)492
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.27×)1,123

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$105,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$714/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

80.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999729 (11.4%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999626 (9.8%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999613 (9.6%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999553 (8.7%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999465 (7.3%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999385 (6.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

12.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

85.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

49.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$35,329

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone6,617 (85.7%)
  • Carpooled484 (6.3%)
  • Worked At Home360 (4.7%)
  • Walked119 (1.5%)
  • Bicycle98 (1.3%)
  • Other31 (0.4%)

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.