county

Stephenson County, IL

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

AI Overview

Stephenson County is a small Illinois county of 44,042 residents with a manufacturing-oriented economic base, posting a GDP per capita of $41,592 against median worker earnings of $37,214 and a median household income of $64,043. The labor force is relatively modest in scale, with a 60.0% participation rate, 21.7% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 4.7%. Housing costs are low—median home value of $127,500 and median gross rent of $764/month—though the county has seen a 3.1% population decline over five years and carries a median age of 45.3, signaling an aging and slowly contracting workforce.

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

Population

44,042

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$64,043

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

45.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.1% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone34,830 (79.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone3,779 (8.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races2,444 (5.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,319 (3.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone862 (2.0%)
  • Asian Alone361 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish939
  2. 2.Other Indo-European219
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic187
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic147
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)101

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

54.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,567

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$41,592

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,672

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

13.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance5,135
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)4,111
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,162
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,352
  5. 5.Other Services, Except Public Administration (Group)1,336

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations7,139
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,170
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations3,945
  4. 4.Service Occupations3,334
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,964

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.78×)902
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.88×)3,794
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.51×)1,448
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.14×)5,430
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 0.98×)2,165

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$127,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$764/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

70.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,726 (12.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,633 (11.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,530 (11.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,9991,075 (7.8%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999829 (6.0%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999800 (5.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

21.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,214

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

20.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone15,953 (77.9%)
  • Worked At Home2,117 (10.3%)
  • Carpooled1,581 (7.7%)
  • Walked404 (2.0%)
  • Other184 (0.9%)
  • Public Transit129 (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.