county

Mason County, IL

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

AI Overview

Mason County is a small rural Illinois county of 12,878 residents with an economic profile centered on modest per capita output of $34,948 GDP and median worker earnings of $36,512, suggesting a workforce concentrated in lower-wage industries. The labor force is constrained, with participation at only 56.8% and unemployment at 6.1%, and just 17.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, though 92.1% have a high school diploma. The county is notably affordable—median home values sit at $106,100 and median gross rent at $760/month—but faces demographic headwinds with a population decline of 6.5% over five years and a median age of 45.4.

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

Population

12,878

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$62,845

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

45.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-6.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone12,058 (94.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races244 (1.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race174 (1.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone96 (0.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone67 (0.5%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone54 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish167
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)21
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)15
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic14
  5. 5.Other Indo-European14

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

20.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

835

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$34,948

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,783

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,276
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)695
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)625
  4. 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities410
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)404

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,742
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,147
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,016
  4. 4.Service Occupations898
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations595

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.65×)419
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.56×)203
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.52×)407
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.13×)373
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.12×)439

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$106,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$760/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

81.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999782 (16.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999462 (9.8%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999414 (8.8%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999366 (7.7%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999347 (7.3%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999327 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

56.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,512

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

30.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,392 (82.8%)
  • Worked At Home435 (8.2%)
  • Carpooled241 (4.5%)
  • Walked119 (2.2%)
  • Other86 (1.6%)
  • Public Transit14 (0.3%)

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.