Lee is a village in

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

and Lee County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. The population was 313 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Lee is located on the border of DeKalb and Lee counties at (41.794240, -88.940951). Viking Vie, the main street of the village, follows the county line. It is southeast of Rochelle and southwest of DeKalb. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Lee has a total area of , all land. The Lee area is unique for a small village, in that the surrounding area is a part of four different watersheds. Northwest of the village is a part of the Rock River valley. Northeast of the village is a part of the Kishwaukee River valley. Southwest of the village is a part of the Green River valley. Southeast of the village is a part of the Fox River valley.

History

Lee is noted for its strong ties to

Norwegian American Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...

culture. In fact, all of the streets in the village have Norwegian names. In 1974, in honor of the town's centennial, a contest was held to rename the streets and Mary Ellen Prestegaard's entry was chosen. She ran a shop in the village called the Hardanger Hus that sold Norwegian gifts. Many of the original citizens of the community came from the

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is ...

region of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and there are still many community members that can trace their ancestry back to that region.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 313 people, 138 households, and 107 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 142 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 92.01%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.28%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.32% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 1.28% from other races, and 4.79% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 6.39% of the population. There were 138 households, out of which 48.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.58% were married couples living together, 25.36% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.46% were non-families. 21.74% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 2.75. The village's age distribution consisted of 26.1% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $82,500, and the median income for a family was $75,625. Males had a median income of $52,188 versus $34,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $34,351. About 2.8% of families and 8.7% 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 ...

, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Villages in DeKalb County, Illinois Villages in Lee County, Illinois Villages in Illinois