Peoria County, Illinois


Peoria County is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2020 United States census listed its population at 181,830. Its county seat is Peoria. Peoria County is part of the Peoria metropolitan area.

History

Peoria County was formed in 1825 out of Fulton County. It was named for the Peoria, an Illiniwek people who lived there. It included most of the western valley of the Illinois River up to the Chicago river portage.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The county is drained by Spoon River, Kickapoo Creek, Elbow Creek, and Copperas Creek.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Peoria have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1884 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

Adjacent counties

Transit

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 181,830. The median age was 38.5 years; 23.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.2 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 67.4% White, 18.7% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.3% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.8% from some other race, and 6.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.5% of the population.
83.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 16.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 75,808 households in the county, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.9% were married-couple households, 21.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 85,074 housing units, of which 10.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 63.3% were owner-occupied and 36.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 12.5%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

In terms of ancestry, per the 2010 US Census, 28.3% were German, 14.8% were Irish, 10.4% were English, and 5.5% were American.
Of the 75,793 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.7% were non-families, and 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age was 36.8 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $49,747 and the median income for a family was $63,163. Males had a median income of $51,246 versus $32,881 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,157. About 10.3% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

Cities

The cities of Peoria and West Peoria are considered independent from all of the townships within this county.
  • Brimfield
  • Chillicothe
  • Elmwood
  • Kickapoo
  • Princeville
  • Trivoli
  • West Peoria

    School districts

Notable residents

People from Peoria County other than in the city of Peoria:
Peoria County is governed by an 18-member County Board which meets on the second Thursday of each month. Each member represents a district with roughly 10,000 residents.
DistrictBoard MemberResidenceIn office sinceParty
1Sharon K. WilliamsPeoria2012Democratic
2Camille CoatesPeoria2022Democratic
3Betty DuncanPeoria2020Democratic
4Brandy BryantPeoria2019Democratic
5James C. Dillon West Peoria2006Democratic
6Dr. Eden BlairPeoria2019Democratic
7Phillip SalzerPeoriaunknownDemocratic
8Nathan HoerrPeoria2022Republican
9Danny PhelanPeoria Heights2022Democratic
10Rob ReneauPeoria2018Democratic
11Linda E. DaleyPeoria2019Republican
12Daniel KelchEdwards2022Republican
13Terry RuthlandChillicothe2022Republican
14Brian ElsasserPrinceville1998Republican
15Steven B. RiekerPeoria2016Republican
16Matt WindishBrimfield2018Republican
17Jennifer Groves AllisonPeoria2019Democratic
18Paul RosenbohmPeoria2010Republican

The County also elects an Auditor, Circuit Clerk, Coroner, County Clerk, Sheriff, State's Attorney, Regional Superintendent, and Treasurer to four-year terms.
OfficeCurrent HolderIn office sinceParty
AuditorJessica Thomas2018Democratic
Circuit ClerkBobby Spears2002Democratic
CoronerJamie Harwood2016Democratic
County ClerkRachael Parker2019Democratic
SheriffChris Watkins2022Republican
State's AttorneyJodi Hoos2019Democratic
Regional SuperintendentElizabeth Crider2014Democratic
TreasurerNicole Bjerke2017Republican

Politics

Prior to 1992, Peoria County, like most of central Illinois, was overwhelmingly Republican. Usually, it only voted for Democratic Party presidential candidates when they won nationally by a landslide. It began trending away from the GOP in the mid-1980s, as evidenced when Ronald Reagan only carried it with 55 percent of the vote in 1984 even as he was winning reelection in a landslide nationally.
From 1992 onward, the county has backed the Democratic candidate in every presidential election, though never by a margin greater than 10 percent aside from 2008 when Illinoisan Barack Obama won it by nearly 14 points. This relative closeness in results was most evident in 2004 when the county backed John Kerry over George W. Bush by only 70 votes.
In Congress, Peoria County is represented by Democrat Eric Sorensen of Illinois's 17th congressional district and Republican Darin LaHood of the Illinois's 18th congressional district.
In the Illinois Senate, Peoria County is represented by Republican Win Stoller of the 37th Legislative District and Democrat Dave Koehler of the 46th Legislative District. In the Illinois House of Representatives, Peoria County is represented by Republican Ryan Spain of the 73rd Representative District, Republican Travis Weaver of the 91st Representative District and Democrat Jehan Gordon-Booth of the 92nd Representative District.