county

McDonough County, IL

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

AI Overview

McDonough County is a small west-central Illinois county of 27,102 residents anchored by Western Illinois University, which helps explain a relatively high bachelor's attainment rate of 31.8% alongside a young median age of 34.9 years and median worker earnings of just $27,338. The labor market shows strain, with an 8.6% unemployment rate, 62.3% labor force participation, and a poverty rate of 19.9%. Housing costs are low—median home value of $103,500 and median gross rent of $730/month—though the county has shed 12.2% 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

27,102

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$52,795

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

34.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-12.2% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone23,246 (86.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,562 (5.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race644 (2.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races625 (2.3%)
  • Asian Alone566 (2.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone236 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish472
  2. 2.Other Indo-European218
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic106
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island99
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic91

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,153

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$39,689

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$30,785

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

8.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

19.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,521
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,830
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)1,515
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,403
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services759

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,253
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations2,680
  3. 3.Service Occupations2,561
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,276
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,195

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.77×)366
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.33×)1,517
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.33×)1,880
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.24×)3,772
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 1.12×)1,450

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$103,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$730/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

63.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999749 (10.0%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999710 (9.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999685 (9.1%)
  • $90,000 to $99,999611 (8.1%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999606 (8.1%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999512 (6.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

31.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$27,338

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

18.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

11.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone9,711 (76.8%)
  • Carpooled1,205 (9.5%)
  • Worked At Home869 (6.9%)
  • Walked578 (4.6%)
  • Bicycle105 (0.8%)
  • Other98 (0.8%)

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.