Coles County, Illinois

Coles County
County
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°31′N 88°13′W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1831
Seat	Charleston
Largest city	Charleston
Population  (2000)
• Total	53,196
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Website	www.co.coles.il.us

Coles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 53,196. Its county seat is Charleston, Illinois⁶.

Coles county was organized in 1831 out of Clark and Edgar Counties It was named after Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois from 1822 to 1826.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,321 km² (510 mi²). 1,316 km² (508 mi²) of it is land and 5 km² (2 mi²) of it (0.35%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

• Douglas County - north
• Edgar County - northeast
• Clark County - southeast
• Cumberland County - south
• Shelby County - west
• Moultrie County - west

Demographics

2000 census age pyramid for Coles County, skewed by Eastern Illinois University.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1900	34,146		—
1910	34,517		1.1%
1920	35,108		1.7%
1930	37,315		6.3%
1940	38,470		3.1%
1950	40,328		4.8%
1960	42,860		6.3%
1970	47,815		11.6%
1980	52,260		9.3%
1990	51,644		−1.2%
2000	53,196		3.0%
IL Counties 1900-1990

As of the census² of 2000, there were 53,196 people, 21,043 households, and 12,078 families residing in the county. The population density was 40/km² (105/mi²). There were 22,768 housing units at an average density of 17/km² (45/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.37% White, 2.28% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. 1.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 21,043 households out of which 26.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.20% were married couples living together, 8.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.60% were non-families. 31.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.70% under the age of 18, 23.50% from 18 to 24, 23.80% from 25 to 44, 19.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 91.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,286, and the median income for a family was $45,708. Males had a median income of $32,831 versus $21,923 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,370. About 7.50% of families and 17.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.40% of those under age 18 and 9.30% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Township and municipality map of Coles County.

• Ashmore
• Charleston
• Humboldt
• Lerna
• Mattoon
• Oakland
• Trilla

External links

• Official Coles County website