Richland County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 15,813. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Olney.

History

Richland County was established in 1841 out of portions of East part of

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and West part of Lawrence counties. It was named for Richland County, Ohio, where many of the early settlers migrated from. File:Richland County Illinois 1841.png, 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 , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Olney have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1951 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May.

Transit

* Rides Mass Transit District

Major highways

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

* Illinois Route 130 * Illinois Route 250

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 16,233 people, 6,726 households, and 4,438 families residing in the county. By 2020, the population had decreased to 15,813 people. The 2010 population density was , which decreased to in the 2020 census. In 2010, there were 7,513 housing units, compared to 7,364 in 2020, at an average density of . 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). Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.3% (1.7%, 2020) of the population. In terms of ancestry, 29.6% were German, 11.7% were American, 11.4% were English, and 9.2% were Irish. 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. 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 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 15.1% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over. 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.

Communities

City

* Olney (seat)

Villages

* Calhoun * Claremont * Noble * Parkersburg

Unincorporated communities

* Berryville * Dundas *

Elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

* Wynoose

Townships

Richland County is divided into nine townships: * Bonpas * Claremont * Decker *

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

* German * Madison * Noble * Olney * Preston

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

References

{{Coord, 38.71, -88.09, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1841 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1841 Richland County, Illinois