county

Lee County, IL

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

AI Overview

Lee County, IL is a small rural county of 34,058 residents with an older workforce (median age 43.1) and a relatively low share of bachelor's degree holders at 19.4%, though high school attainment reaches 90.5%. The labor market is tight with a 3.6% unemployment rate, and median worker earnings of $41,482 sit below the median household income of $70,292, pointing to multi-earner households. Housing costs are low — median home value of $155,100 and median gross rent of $853/month — though the county's population has contracted 1.4% over five years and labor force participation stands at a modest 56.3%.

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

Population

34,058

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$70,292

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.4% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone29,059 (85.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,798 (5.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,317 (3.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races989 (2.9%)
  • Some Other Race Alone414 (1.2%)
  • Asian Alone243 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish900
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic183
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)89
  4. 4.Arabic64
  5. 5.Other Indo-European59

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,744

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$47,408

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$35,065

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

11.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,538
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)2,482
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,561
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,134
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,100

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,957
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations3,313
  3. 3.Service Occupations2,696
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations2,474
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,433

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.73×)422
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.71×)2,597
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.23×)1,102
  4. 4.Public Administration (LQ 1.15×)831
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.08×)378

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$155,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$853/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,166 (11.9%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,091 (11.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,9991,013 (10.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999934 (9.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999900 (9.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999794 (8.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

19.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

56.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$41,482

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone12,059 (82.0%)
  • Carpooled1,393 (9.5%)
  • Worked At Home811 (5.5%)
  • Walked181 (1.2%)
  • Other128 (0.9%)
  • Public Transit87 (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.