Joy is a village in Mercer County,

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

, United States. The population was 372 as of the 2020 census. The village was founded in 1869 and named after the president of the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

, J. F. Joy.

Geography

Joy is located in western Mercer County at (41.196923, -90.879702).

Illinois Route 17 Illinois Route 17 (IL 17) is a rural, arterial east–west state highway that runs east from a former ferry crossing in New Boston along the banks of the Mississippi RiverIllinois Highway EndsIllinois 17. Retrieved April 21, 2006. to State R ...

passes through the village on Center Street, leading east to Aledo, the

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 ...

, and west the same distance to its terminus in New Boston, on the

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 f ...

. According to the

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, Joy has a total area of , all land. The village drains east to a north-flowing tributary of the Edwards River, a west-flowing tributary of the Mississippi River; and west to headwaters of the Mud River, part of the Pope Creek watershed flowing southwest to the Mississippi.

Demographics

At the 2000

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, there were 373 people, 156 households and 104 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 167 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 99.46%

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, and 0.54% from two or more races.

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of any race were 1.07% of the population. There were 156 households, of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.96. 26.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $36,625 and the median family income was $39,722. Males had a median income of $32,232 versus $25,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

was $14,201. About 12.7% of families and 18.6% 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 26.9% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

Mercer County Junior High School is located in Joy, in the building that once housed the now defunct Westmer High School.

References

External links

*
Westmer Community Unit School District 203"Holiday Postmark Returns to Joy, Illinois," WQAD-8 Quad Cities Television, December 1, 2014
{{authority control Villages in Mercer County, Illinois Villages in Illinois