Champaign County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 205,865, making it the 10th-most populous county in Illinois. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Urbana. Champaign County is part of the

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

–Urbana, IL

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. The twin cities of Urbana and Champaign are the only cities in the county, and they nearly surround the campus of the

University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

History

Champaign County was organized in 1833, having been previously a part of Vermilion County. The development of the county was greatly furthered by the arrival of the Chicago Branch of the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

, and even more by the establishment of the land-grant university. Later, the county also got an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

and a mass transit district. The northern part of the county experienced an economic and demographic setback with the closing of Chanute Air Training Center in the 1990s. In the 2004 Presidential election, it was one of only 15 of the 102 Illinois counties where John Kerry received a majority of the vote (50.37%). File:Champaign County Illinois 1833.png, Champaign County at the time of its creation in 1833 File:Rural Champaign County grain elevator.jpg, Country grain elevator in Champaign County

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the fifth-largest county in Illinois by land area. Because Champaign County is situated on a large and very flat

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

, it had virtually no natural drainage, so that much of the County consisted of wetlands until drainage ditches were built, beginning in the 1870s. This was an example of an upland

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

, which resulted in a high incidence of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

before the late nineteenth century. The topography of Champaign County was formed by the

Wisconsin Glacier The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...

about 20,000 years before the present. Lobes of ice from what is now Lake Michigan crossed the county, creating a deep pile of glacial soil, up to 300 feet thick, topped by numerous moraines forming small, flat watersheds with no outlets. Champaign County is situated on the divide between the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

s. Rivers flow out of Champaign County to the east, west, and south. The

Kaskaskia River The Kaskaskia River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 in central and southern Illinois in the Un ...

has its origin to the northwest of

, draining the western side of that City. The Kaskaskia flows toward the southwest, joining the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

south of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. The Embarras River, on the other hand, drains the south-central portion of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, originating in southeastern Champaign and flowing through the experimental fields on the southern part of the campus of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. The is a tributary to the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

and Ohio River systems. The northeast corner of Champaign, the central portion of the University campus, and the northern part of Urbana are drained by the Boneyard Creek, which flows into the Saline Ditch, a tributary of the

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It i ...

and Wabash rivers. Champaign County Courthouse

Adjacent counties

* McLean County – northwest * Ford County – north * Vermilion County – east * Edgar County – southeast * Douglas County – south *

Piatt County Piatt County is a county in Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 16,673. Its county seat is Monticello. Piatt County is part of the Champaign–Urbana, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The firs ...

– west

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route. It runs from Sikeston, Missouri, at I-55 to Chicago, Illinois, at I-94. I-57 ess ...

Interstate 72 Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61 (US 61); its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champ ...

Interstate 74 } Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange ...

US Route 45 * US 136

US Route 136 * US 150

US Route 150 U.S. Route 150 (US 150) is a 571-mile (919 km) long northwest-southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois to U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Route description ...

Illinois Route 10 Illinois Route 10 (IL 10) is an arterial east–west state highway that runs from rural Mason County east to Champaign, a distance of . Route description Illinois 10 starts at US 136 about 12 miles east of Havana. The highway heads south to ...

Illinois Route 47 Illinois Route 47 (IL 47) is a largely rural north–south state highway that runs from the Wisconsin state border at Highway 120 near Hebron, to IL 10, just south of Interstate 72 (I-72) near Seymour. IL 47 is in primarily rural ...

Illinois Route 49 Illinois Route 49 (IL 49) is a north–south state highway in east-central Illinois. It runs from Willow Hill at IL 33 north to the beginning of the U.S. Route 45/ 52 concurrency near Ashkum. Route description Illinois 49 runs ...

Illinois Route 54 Illinois Route 54 (IL 54) is a east–west highway in east-central Illinois. It passes through the cities of Clinton, Gibson City, and Onarga. Its western terminus is at Interstate 55 (I-55) in Springfield. Its eastern terminus is at U.S. Ro ...

Illinois Route 130

Airports

The following public-use airports are located in the county: *

University of Illinois Willard Airport University of Illinois Willard Airport is south of Savoy in Tolono Township, Champaign County, Illinois, United States. It is owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is named for former University of Illinois presid ...

(CMI) – Champaign–Urbana * Rantoul National Aviation Center (Frank Elliott Field) (TIP) – Rantoul * Frasca Field (C16) – Urbana

Rail

There are two train stations in Champaign County: The Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign and Rantoul station in Rantoul. Both stations are served by the Amtrak ''Illini'' and ''Saluki'' trains, which operate once daily between Chicago and Carbondale. The Illinois Terminal is also served by the ''City of New Orleans'', which operates once daily between Chicago and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Amtrak passenger trains in Champaign County use the former Illinois Central mainline, which is owned by the Canadian National Railway and also used by freight trains. The Norfolk Southern Railway operates two branch lines in Champaign County: the Mansfield Line from Urbana to Mansfield and the Lafayette District from Decatur to

Peru, Indiana Peru is a city in, and the county seat of, Miami County, Indiana, United States. It is north of Indianapolis. The population was 11,417 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in Miami County. Peru is located along the Wabash Rive ...

. Canadian National also operates branch lines from Champaign to Seymour and Rantoul to Dewey. Traffic on the branch lines is limited and consists primarily of freight.

Intercity Buses

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, and Peoria Charter operate intercity buses from Champaign-Urbana to Chicago,

, Indianapolis, and other destinations.

Public Transit

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District operates public city buses in Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy.

Renewable energy

In August 2018, the Champaign County Board voted to approve solar farms on certain agricultural properties. Solar farms produce photovoltaic energy, which is energy produced by cells that generate electricity when they are hit by light. The board approved solar farms in AG-1 and AG-2 agricultural zoning districts. In order to make the solar farms, developers must obtain a special permit from the county board first. At least seven applications for permits were submitted in the first month.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Urbana have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1999 and a record high of was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

Demographics

USA Champaign County, Illinois age pyramid

As of the 2010 census, there were 201,081 people, 80,665 households, and 42,737 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 87,569 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 73.4% white, 12.4% black or African American, 8.9% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 2.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.9% were German, 12.2% were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, 11.5% were American, and 8.9% were English. Of the 80,665 households, 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.7% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 47.0% were non-families, and 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 28.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $45,262 and the median income for a family was $65,785. Males had a median income of $45,823 versus $35,321 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,553. About 9.7% of families and 20.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over. The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation (CHCEDC) produced a 2009 County Demographic Profile which includes information on the population, labor, housing, cost of living, education, taxes, retail sales, transportation, quality of life, utilities. CHCEDC also conducts labor force studies every two years and labor shed studies every few years.

Economy

Supported by the

, through backings such as the Research Park, and Champaign County leaders, the area has shown even more growth in Information Technology, Micro/Nanotechnology, Bio-Imaging, Healthcare, Logistics, Distribution, and Agribusiness in recent years. The Top 2009 Employers of the county are the University of Illinois, Carle Clinic Association, Carle Foundation Hospital, Champaign Schools Unit 4, Kraft Foods, Provena Covenant Medical, Parkland College, Kirby Foods, Christie Clinic Association, Urbana Schools District, and Hobbico.

Communities

Cities

(largest city) * Urbana (county seat)

Villages

* Bondville *

Broadlands Broadlands is an English country house, located in the civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The formal gardens and historic landscape of Broadlands are Grade II* listed on th ...

* Fisher * Foosland * Gifford *

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

* Ivesdale * Longview *

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

* Mahomet * Ogden * Pesotum *

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's de ...

* Rantoul *

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

* Sadorus * Savoy * Sidney * St. Joseph * Thomasboro * Tolono Map of Champaign County Illinois

Townships

* Ayers *

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

* Champaign City * Colfax *

Compromise To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand. In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving va ...

* Condit * Crittenden * Cunningham * East Bend * Harwood * Hensley *

Kerr Kerr may refer to: People *Kerr (surname) *Kerr (given name) Places ;United States *Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois *Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place *Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community *Kerr County, Texas Other uses ...

* Mahomet * Newcomb * Ogden * Pesotum *

* Rantoul * Raymond * Sadorus * Scott * Sidney * Somer * South Homer * St. Joseph * Stanton * Tolono * Urbana

Census-designated places

* Lake of the Woods * Penfield * Seymour

Other unincorporated places

* Augerville *

Block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

* Bongard *

Dailey Dailey is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: ;Entertainment *Dan Dailey (1915–1978), American actor and dancer *Irene Dailey (1920–2008), American actress *Peter F. Dailey (1868–1908), American burlesque comedian *Will Dailey ...

* Deers * Dewey * Dickerson * Dillsburg * Flatville * Fulls *

Gerald Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iris ...

* Giblin * Glover * Jimtown * Leverett * Lotus * Mayview *

Mira Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–400 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a vari ...

* Parkville * Pauline * Prospect * Rising * Rutherford * Sellers * Staley * State Road *

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

* Tomlinson * Wilbur Heights

Politics

Like most of central Illinois, Champaign County was powerfully Republican between the Civil War and the latter portion of the 20th century. From 1856 to 1988, it only supported a Democrat three times, in the national Democratic landslides of 1932, 1936 and 1964. Pockets of Democratic support existed in the cities of Champaign and Urbana, which frequently sent Democrats to the Illinois House of Representatives. Since 1992, Champaign County has been one of the few Democratic bastions in central Illinois, and has become one of the most Democratic counties in downstate Illinois. It has supported a Democrat in the last eight presidential elections, and since 2004 has given a majority to Democratic candidates. This tracks closely with the strong Democratic trend in other counties influenced by college towns since the 1990s. The county's more rural precincts are still heavily Republican, however, they are no match for Champaign and Urbana, which account for over 60 percent of the county's population. George H. W. Bush in 1988 was the last Republican to carry the county, and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

's 2008 performance was the best by a Democrat until Joe Biden's 2020 performance surpassed it.

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

had a particularly poor showing in the county in 2016, receiving a little over 35% of the vote, his third-worst showing in the state and his worst outside the Chicago area.

Education

Here is a list of K-12 school districts with territory in the county, no matter how slight, even if the districts have their schools and/or administrative offices in other counties:
Text list
/ref> K-12: *

Arthur Community Unit School District 305 Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

Prairieview-Ogden Community Consolidated School District 197 Prairieview-Ogden Community Consolidated School District 197 is a public school district in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. It was established in 2007 following the consolidation of Prairieview School District #192 and the Ogden Commu ...

Rantoul City School District 137 Rantoul may refer to: Places In the United States: * Rantoul, Illinois * Rantoul (Amtrak station), a train station in Rantoul, Illinois * Rantoul, Kansas *Rantoul, Wisconsin People *Robert Rantoul, Jr. Robert Rantoul Jr. (August 13, 1805August ...

* St. Joseph Community Consolidated School District 169 * Thomasboro Community Consolidated School District 130

is in the county.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Champaign County Official Page

Champaign County Visitors Information

Champaign County Economic Development Corporation

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

United States National Atlas

Book of the Champaign County Courthouse dedication from 1901
{{Coord, 40.14, -88.20, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1833 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1833