Richland County, Illinois

	█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
	█ Precipitation totals in inches
	Source: The Weather Channel

Olney, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
	█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
	█ Precipitation totals in inches
	Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion
	█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
	█ Precipitation totals in mm

Richland County
Richland County
County
	Richland County Courthouse in Olney
	Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
	Illinois's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 38°43′N 88°05′W / 38.71°N 88.09°W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	February 24, 1841
Named for	Richland County, Ohio
Seat	Olney
Largest city	Olney
Area
• Total	362 sq mi (940 km2)
• Land	356 sq mi (920 km2)
• Water	1.9 sq mi (5 km2) 0.5%
Population (2020)
• Total	15,813
• Estimate (2021)	15,796
• Density	44/sq mi (17/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	12th

Richland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 15,813.^[1] Its county seat is Olney.^[2]^[3]^{: County Seats}

History

Richland County was established in 1841 out of portions of East part of Clay and West part of Lawrence counties.^[4] It was named for Richland County, Ohio, where many of the early settlers migrated from.^[3]^{: Origin of the name of the county}

Richland County at the time of its creation in 1841

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 362 square miles (940 km²), of which 360 square miles (930 km²) is land^[5]^{: Population tab, Population Density sub-tab} and 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²) (0.5%) is water.^[6]

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Olney have ranged from a low of 19 °F (−7 °C) in January to a high of 88 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −25 °F (−32 °C) was recorded in February 1951 and a record high of 112 °F (44 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.73 inches (69 mm) in February to 4.76 inches (121 mm) in May.^[7]

Transit

Rides Mass Transit District

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Jasper County (north)
Crawford County (northeast)
Lawrence County (east)
Wabash County (southeast)
Edwards County (south)
Wayne County (southwest)
Clay County (west)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	4,012		—
1860	9,711		142.0%
1870	12,803		31.8%
1880	15,545		21.4%
1890	15,019		−3.4%
1900	16,391		9.1%
1910	15,970		−2.6%
1920	14,044		−12.1%
1930	14,053		0.1%
1940	17,137		21.9%
1950	16,889		−1.4%
1960	16,299		−3.5%
1970	16,829		3.3%
1980	17,587		4.5%
1990	16,545		−5.9%
2000	16,149		−2.4%
2010	16,233		0.5%
2020	15,813		−2.6%
2023 (est.)	15,488	^[8]	−2.1%
U.S. Decennial Census^[9] 1790–1960^[10] 1900–1990^[11] 1990–2000^[12] 2010–2013^[13] 2020^[5]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 16,233 people, 6,726 households, and 4,438 families residing in the county.^[14] By 2020, the population had decreased to 15,813 people.^[5]^{: Population tab, Population Density sub-tab} The 2010 population density was 45.1 inhabitants per square mile (17.4/km²), which decreased to 43.1 inhabitants per square mile (16.6/km²) in the 2020 census.^[5]^{: Population tab, Population Density sub-tab} In 2010, there were 7,513 housing units, compared to 7,364 in 2020,^[5]^{: Housing tab, Occupied Units sub-tab} at an average density of 20.9 per square mile (8.1/km²).^[6] The 2010 racial makeup of the county was 97.3% white (94.2%, 2020), 0.7% Asian (0.8%, 2020), 0.5% black or African American (same, 2020), 0.2% American Indian (same, 2020), 0.4% (0.5%, 2020) from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races (3.7%, 2020).^[5]^{: for 2020—Race alone tab, all sub-tabs} Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.3% (1.7%, 2020) of the population.^[5]^{: Hispanic Origin tab, Hispanic or Latino sub-tab}^[14] In terms of ancestry, 29.6% were German, 11.7% were American, 11.4% were English, and 9.2% were Irish.^[15]

Of the 6,726 households, 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.0% were non-families, and 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age was 42.1 years.^[14]

The median income for a household in the county was $41,917 and the median income for a family was $53,853. Males had a median income of $41,058 versus $31,296 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,874. About 9.5% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.^[16] Richland is the top ranked most affordable county in Illinois to buy a car and is on average $932 less expensive than other Illinois counties.^[17]

Communities

City

Olney (seat)

Villages

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Richland County is divided into nine townships:^[3]^{: Township Names}

Notable people

Alexander W. Swanitz (1851–1915), civil engineer who participated in the construction of railroads in various parts of the country
Dial D. Ryder (1938–2011), gun smith

Politics

Government

Elected officials^[18]
Office	Office holder
County Board Chairman	Dennis Graves (R)
County Board Member - District 1	Brian VanBlaricum (R)
County Board Member - District 2	Dennis Graves (R)
County Board Member - District 3	Shawn Rose (R)
County Board Member - District 4	Cynthia Given (D)
County Board Member - District 5	Morgan Henton (R)
County Board Member - District 6	Travis Paddock (R)
County Board Member - District 7	Steve Schonert (R)
County Clerk	Amanda Troyer (R)
County Circuit Clerk	Zach Holder (R)
County Treasurer	Mike Hahn (R)
County Assessor	Tim Hahn (R)
Coroner	Steve Patterson (R)
States Attorney	John Clark (R)
County Sheriff	Andy Hires (R)

United States presidential election results for Richland County, Illinois^[19]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	6,089	75.39%	1,830	22.66%	158	1.96%
2016	5,739	74.59%	1,584	20.59%	371	4.82%
2012	4,756	65.31%	2,362	32.44%	164	2.25%
2008	4,329	56.42%	3,181	41.46%	163	2.12%
2004	5,153	66.50%	2,529	32.64%	67	0.86%
2000	4,718	63.52%	2,491	33.54%	219	2.95%
1996	3,137	46.03%	2,679	39.31%	999	14.66%
1992	3,053	37.87%	3,286	40.76%	1,722	21.36%
1988	4,264	59.61%	2,863	40.03%	26	0.36%
1984	5,665	71.95%	2,182	27.71%	27	0.34%
1980	5,241	64.50%	2,463	30.31%	422	5.19%
1976	4,434	55.03%	3,485	43.25%	138	1.71%
1972	5,558	68.41%	2,553	31.42%	14	0.17%
1968	4,781	58.76%	2,495	30.66%	861	10.58%
1964	3,901	47.92%	4,239	52.08%	0	0.00%
1960	5,329	63.80%	3,015	36.09%	9	0.11%
1956	5,304	68.05%	2,485	31.88%	5	0.06%
1952	5,569	68.42%	2,565	31.51%	5	0.06%
1948	3,884	60.56%	2,438	38.02%	91	1.42%
1944	4,577	60.91%	2,858	38.04%	79	1.05%
1940	5,022	53.17%	4,335	45.89%	89	0.94%
1936	4,040	47.57%	4,268	50.26%	184	2.17%
1932	2,765	38.50%	4,318	60.12%	99	1.38%
1928	4,042	61.03%	2,550	38.50%	31	0.47%
1924	3,082	50.07%	2,749	44.66%	324	5.26%
1920	3,026	57.05%	2,174	40.99%	104	1.96%
1916	2,992	45.09%	3,431	51.70%	213	3.21%
1912	811	21.80%	1,800	48.39%	1,109	29.81%
1908	1,684	44.13%	1,938	50.79%	194	5.08%
1904	1,778	48.20%	1,604	43.48%	307	8.32%
1900	1,793	45.58%	2,042	51.91%	99	2.52%
1896	1,693	44.55%	2,062	54.26%	45	1.18%
1892	1,500	43.35%	1,542	44.57%	418	12.08%