Livingston County, Illinois | |
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 Location within the U.S. state ofIllinois | |
| Coordinates:40°53′N88°34′W / 40.89°N 88.56°W /40.89; -88.56 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Illinois |
| Founded | 1837 |
| Named after | Edward Livingston |
| Seat | Pontiac |
| Largest city | Pontiac |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,046 sq mi (2,710 km2) |
| • Land | 1,044 sq mi (2,700 km2) |
| • Water | 1.6 sq mi (4.1 km2) 0.2% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 35,815 |
• Estimate (2024) | 35,375 [1] |
| • Density | 34.31/sq mi (13.25/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional districts | 2nd,16th |
| Website | www |
Livingston County is acounty located in theU.S. state ofIllinois. According to the2020 census, it has a population of 35,815.[2] Itscounty seat isPontiac.[3] Livingston County comprises the Pontiac, ILMicropolitan Statistical Area, which is combined with theBloomington–Normalmetropolitan statistical area as theBloomington-Pontiac, ILCombined Statistical Area in the upper portion ofCentral Illinois.
On October 27, 1830, Valentine Darnell and his wife Rachel became the first white settlers of Livingston County.[4] Livingston was established on February 27, 1837. It was formed from parts of McLean, LaSalle, and Iroquois counties, and named afterEdward Livingston,[5] a prominent politician who wasmayor of New York City and represented New York in theUnited States House of Representatives andLouisiana in both houses ofCongress. He later served asAndrew Jackson'sSecretary of State and asMinister to France. Although he had no connections to Illinois, the General Assembly found him accomplished enough to name a county after him.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,046 square miles (2,710 km2), of which 1,044 square miles (2,700 km2) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2) (0.2%) is water.[6] It is the fourth-largest county in Illinois by land area.
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In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pontiac have ranged from a low of 14 °F (−10.0 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29.4 °C) in July, although a record low of −24 °F (−31.1 °C) was recorded in January 1927. A record high of 108 °F (42.2 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.44 inches (36.6 mm) in February to 4.11 inches (104.4 mm) in June.[7]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 759 | — | |
| 1850 | 1,552 | 104.5% | |
| 1860 | 11,637 | 649.8% | |
| 1870 | 31,471 | 170.4% | |
| 1880 | 38,450 | 22.2% | |
| 1890 | 38,455 | 0.0% | |
| 1900 | 42,035 | 9.3% | |
| 1910 | 40,465 | −3.7% | |
| 1920 | 39,070 | −3.4% | |
| 1930 | 39,092 | 0.1% | |
| 1940 | 38,838 | −0.6% | |
| 1950 | 37,809 | −2.6% | |
| 1960 | 40,341 | 6.7% | |
| 1970 | 40,690 | 0.9% | |
| 1980 | 41,381 | 1.7% | |
| 1990 | 39,301 | −5.0% | |
| 2000 | 39,678 | 1.0% | |
| 2010 | 38,950 | −1.8% | |
| 2020 | 35,815 | −8.0% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 35,375 | [8] | −1.2% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1960[10] 1900-1990[11] 1990-2000[12] 2010-2013[2] | |||
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 35,815. The median age was 42.4 years, with 21.9% of residents under the age of 18 and 20.0% of residents aged 65 or older. For every 100 females there were 106.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 105.8 males age 18 and over.[13]
The racial makeup of the county was 89.5%White, 3.1%Black or African American, 0.2%American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Asian, <0.1%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 2.1% from some other race, and 4.6% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.2% of the population.[14]
35.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 64.6% lived in rural areas.[15]
There were 14,396 households in the county, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.5% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[13]
There were 15,920 housing units, of which 9.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.3% were owner-occupied, and 26.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%, and the rental vacancy rate was 8.4%.[13]
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980[16] | Pop 1990[17] | Pop 2000[18] | Pop 2010[19] | Pop 2020[20] | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 38,790 | 36,171 | 36,145 | 34,903 | 31,518 | 93.74% | 92.04% | 91.10% | 89.61% | 88.00% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 1,807 | 2,091 | 2,032 | 1,887 | 1,081 | 4.37% | 5.32% | 5.12% | 4.84% | 3.02% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 35 | 57 | 60 | 51 | 38 | 0.08% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.13% | 0.11% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 92 | 127 | 121 | 197 | 171 | 0.22% | 0.32% | 0.30% | 0.51% | 0.48% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | x[21] | x[22] | 2 | 1 | 1 | x | x | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 36 | 29 | 11 | 29 | 89 | 0.09% | 0.07% | 0.03% | 0.07% | 0.25% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | x[23] | x[24] | 251 | 350 | 1,058 | x | x | 0.63% | 0.90% | 2.95% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 621 | 826 | 1,056 | 1,532 | 1,859 | 1.50% | 2.10% | 2.66% | 3.93% | 5.19% |
| Total | 41,381 | 39,301 | 39,678 | 38,950 | 35,815 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the2010 United States census, there were 38,950 people, 14,613 households, and 9,741 families residing in the county.[25] The population density was 37.3 inhabitants per square mile (14.4/km2). There were 15,895 housing units at an average density of 15.2 per square mile (5.9/km2).[6] The racial makeup of the county was 91.8% white, 4.9% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.9% of the population.[25] In terms of ancestry, 36.6% wereGerman, 17.2% wereIrish, 11.2% wereAmerican, 10.7% wereEnglish, and 5.1% wereItalian.[26]
Of the 14,613 households, 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.3% were non-families, and 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43, and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.8 years.[25]
The median household income in the county was $50,500, and the median family income was $60,933. Males had a median income of $44,639 versus $32,234 for females. The county's per capita income was $23,259. About 9.1% of families and 11.0% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.4% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.[27]
Livingston County is divided into thirtytownships:
TheIllinois Department of Corrections operates two prisons in the county.
Pontiac Correctional Center is located in Pontiac.[28] Pontiac houses the male death row. Before the January 11, 2003, commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Pontiac,Menard, andTamms correctional centers.[29]Dwight Correctional Center is withinNevada Township in anunincorporated area in the county.[30][31]
The Dwight Correctional Center is currently unoccupied and was closed in 2013.
Although it was solidly Democratic before 1856, Livingston has since always been a powerfully Republican county. The solitary Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote sincethe Civil War has beenFranklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 landslide triumph overHerbert Hoover. Apart from the 1912 election, when Woodrow Wilson defeated a mortally divided Republican Party, Livingston has consistently voted Republican since the party's founding in 1856. Since 1940, onlyLyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory over the conservativeBarry Goldwater has won more than forty percent of the county's vote.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 3,980 | 46.58% | 3,960 | 46.34% | 605 | 7.08% |
| 1896 | 5,436 | 55.97% | 4,068 | 41.89% | 208 | 2.14% |
| 1900 | 5,805 | 56.87% | 4,024 | 39.42% | 378 | 3.70% |
| 1904 | 6,018 | 63.58% | 2,785 | 29.42% | 662 | 6.99% |
| 1908 | 5,358 | 55.84% | 3,778 | 39.37% | 460 | 4.79% |
| 1912 | 2,444 | 26.40% | 3,334 | 36.01% | 3,480 | 37.59% |
| 1916 | 9,801 | 58.64% | 6,462 | 38.66% | 451 | 2.70% |
| 1920 | 10,382 | 74.83% | 3,101 | 22.35% | 391 | 2.82% |
| 1924 | 9,695 | 64.53% | 2,911 | 19.37% | 2,419 | 16.10% |
| 1928 | 11,161 | 65.68% | 5,737 | 33.76% | 94 | 0.55% |
| 1932 | 8,403 | 45.20% | 10,024 | 53.92% | 162 | 0.87% |
| 1936 | 10,801 | 53.12% | 9,190 | 45.20% | 343 | 1.69% |
| 1940 | 13,909 | 64.14% | 7,722 | 35.61% | 55 | 0.25% |
| 1944 | 12,436 | 66.44% | 6,231 | 33.29% | 52 | 0.28% |
| 1948 | 11,184 | 66.27% | 5,618 | 33.29% | 74 | 0.44% |
| 1952 | 14,095 | 71.45% | 5,612 | 28.45% | 20 | 0.10% |
| 1956 | 13,939 | 72.82% | 5,197 | 27.15% | 7 | 0.04% |
| 1960 | 13,139 | 66.42% | 6,642 | 33.57% | 2 | 0.01% |
| 1964 | 10,239 | 54.71% | 8,476 | 45.29% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 11,963 | 65.88% | 5,234 | 28.82% | 963 | 5.30% |
| 1972 | 13,217 | 72.07% | 5,110 | 27.86% | 12 | 0.07% |
| 1976 | 10,097 | 64.56% | 5,174 | 33.08% | 369 | 2.36% |
| 1980 | 11,544 | 68.62% | 4,111 | 24.44% | 1,168 | 6.94% |
| 1984 | 12,291 | 72.65% | 4,567 | 26.99% | 61 | 0.36% |
| 1988 | 10,324 | 67.02% | 5,009 | 32.52% | 72 | 0.47% |
| 1992 | 8,004 | 46.81% | 6,007 | 35.13% | 3,087 | 18.05% |
| 1996 | 7,653 | 51.75% | 5,641 | 38.15% | 1,494 | 10.10% |
| 2000 | 9,187 | 59.57% | 5,829 | 37.80% | 405 | 2.63% |
| 2004 | 10,316 | 64.32% | 5,632 | 35.11% | 91 | 0.57% |
| 2008 | 9,191 | 58.66% | 6,189 | 39.50% | 289 | 1.84% |
| 2012 | 9,753 | 64.69% | 5,020 | 33.30% | 304 | 2.02% |
| 2016 | 10,208 | 66.54% | 4,023 | 26.22% | 1,111 | 7.24% |
| 2020 | 12,208 | 70.92% | 4,615 | 26.81% | 391 | 2.27% |
| 2024 | 11,970 | 72.02% | 4,311 | 25.94% | 340 | 2.05% |
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Places adjacent to Livingston County, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofLivingston County, Illinois,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
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| Villages | ||
| Townships | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost town | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
