county

Brown County, IL

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

AI Overview

Brown County is a small, rural Illinois county of 6,320 residents with a low unemployment rate of 2.2% and a labor force participation rate of 42.6%, reflecting a limited but engaged working-age base. Educational attainment is modest, with 15.1% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings of $41,817 sit below the median household income of $67,917. Housing costs are low—median home value of $142,200 and median gross rent of $724/month—though the county has shed 5.3% 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

6,320

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$67,917

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-5.3% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone4,711 (74.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,132 (17.9%)
  • Some Other Race Alone236 (3.7%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race152 (2.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races77 (1.2%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone11 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish269
  2. 2.Other Indo-European31
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic18
  4. 4.Arabic17
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island2

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

66.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

212

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$68,081

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$26,527

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

2.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Wholesale Trade (Group)450
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance449
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services209
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining187
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)172

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations571
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations554
  3. 3.Service Occupations432
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations385
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations244

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Wholesale Trade (LQ 10.16×)524
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.17×)149
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.06×)209
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.04×)136
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 0.89×)138

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$142,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$724/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999198 (13.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999184 (12.6%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999181 (12.4%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999148 (10.1%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999136 (9.3%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999108 (7.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

79.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

42.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$41,817

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

15.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone1,718 (80.8%)
  • Carpooled163 (7.7%)
  • Worked At Home156 (7.3%)
  • Walked75 (3.5%)
  • Other13 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit2 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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More on FDI Connect

Compare Brown County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

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