county

Menard County, IL

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

AI Overview

Menard County is a small rural Illinois county of 12,169 residents with a high homeownership rate of 79.5% and low housing costs — median home value of $179,300 and median gross rent of $780/month. The labor force of roughly 7,400 workers shows a 3.9% unemployment rate and median worker earnings of $46,292, though labor force participation is modest at 60.8% and only 26.5% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Population has edged down 1.6% over five years, and a GDP per capita of $21,478 against a per capita income of $41,888 points to significant income sourced outside the immediate local economy, consistent with a commuter-oriented workforce averaging 26.1 minutes to work.

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

Population

12,169

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$82,176

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.6% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone11,472 (94.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races316 (2.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race178 (1.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone63 (0.5%)
  • Asian Alone31 (0.3%)
  • Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone27 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish57
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)42
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)40
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)12
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic8

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

885

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$21,478

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$41,888

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

9.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,644
  2. 2.Public Administration (Group)657
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)549
  4. 4.Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing410
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services400

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,260
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,249
  3. 3.Service Occupations996
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations603
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations490

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.21×)293
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 2.58×)697
  3. 3.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.31×)173
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.18×)1,580
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.10×)682

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$179,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$780/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

79.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999522 (12.6%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999501 (12.1%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999433 (10.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999431 (10.4%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999422 (10.2%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999395 (9.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

26.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$46,292

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,585 (82.5%)
  • Worked At Home613 (11.0%)
  • Carpooled241 (4.3%)
  • Walked99 (1.8%)
  • Other21 (0.4%)
  • Public Transit0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

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

Open full dashboardCreate free account

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