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McLean County, Illinois
Map of Illinois highlighting McLean County
Location in the state of Illinois
Map of the U.S
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded 1830
Seat Bloomington
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

1,186 sq mi (3,072 km²)
184 sq mi (477 km²)
3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.37%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

170,954
127/sq mi (49/km²)
Website www.co.mclean.il.us

McLean County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is included in the Bloomington-Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, the population was 170,954. Its county seat is Bloomington6.

Crop Production[]

McLean County boasts some of the richest soil in the world. Only patches of farmland in Argentina, southern Ukraine and along the Yellow River in China match the fertile ground that covers much of the northern half of Illinois, particularly a high-yielding band through the state's midsection. It is the top-producing county in the United States for both corn and soybeans.

Naming[]

McLean is pronounced "mik-LAIN" or "muh-KLAIN" (as with native son McLean Stevenson), not "mik-LEEN" as some non-natives say.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,186 sq mi (3,072 km²). 1,184 sq mi (3,065 km²) of it is land and 3 sq mi (7 km²) of it (0.23%) is water. McLean County is the largest county in Illinois in terms of land area, at 1,184 square miles.

Adjacent Counties[]

History[]

McLean County was formed late in 1830 out of Tazewell County. It was named for John McLean, United States Senator for Illinois, who died in 1830.

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1900 67,843
1910 68,008 0.2%
1920 70,107 3.1%
1930 73,117 4.3%
1940 73,930 1.1%
1950 76,577 3.6%
1960 83,877 9.5%
1970 104,389 24.5%
1980 119,149 14.1%
1990 129,180 8.4%
2000 150,433 16.5%
2010 169,572 12.7%
IL Counties 1900-1990

As of the census² of 2000, there were 150,433 people, 56,746 households, and 35,466 families residing in the county. The population density was 49/km² (127/sq mi). There were 59,972 housing units at an average density of 20/km² (51/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.19% White, 6.19% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 2.05% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.01% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. 2.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 56,746 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.90% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.50% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.50% under the age of 18, 18.60% from 18 to 24, 29.20% from 25 to 44, 19.00% from 45 to 64, and 9.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,021, and the median income for a family was $61,073. Males had a median income of $41,290 versus $28,435 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,227. About 4.10% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 5.00% of those age 65 or over.

Politics[]

Like most of central Illinois, McLean County is historically Republican-leaning. The only Democrats to gain an absolute majority of the county's vote since the Civil War have been Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, Lyndon Johnson by a mere 1.2% in 1964, and Joe Biden in 2020. Illinois resident Barack Obama in 2008 and Woodrow Wilson in 1912 both carried the county by narrow pluralities.

The county has not swung as heavily to the Democrats as other counties dominated by college towns. In recent years, however, McLean has trended sufficiently Democratic that Hillary Clinton in 2016 lost the county by just 1.3 percent, while Biden won the county in 2020 with a narrow majority.

McLean County is one of only twelve counties to have voted for Obama in 2008, Romney in 2012, Trump in 2016, and Biden in 2020.[lower-alpha 1]

United States presidential election results for McLean County, Illinois[1]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 40,502 46.35% 43,933 50.27% 2,952 3.38%
2016 37,237 45.79% 36,196 44.51% 7,891 9.70%
2012 39,947 54.37% 31,883 43.40% 1,639 2.23%
2008 36,767 48.46% 37,689 49.67% 1,422 1.87%
2004 41,276 57.63% 29,877 41.72% 467 0.65%
2000 34,008 55.84% 24,936 40.95% 1,954 3.21%
1996 26,428 49.46% 22,708 42.50% 4,299 8.05%
1992 25,726 43.39% 23,090 38.95% 10,469 17.66%
1988 30,572 61.75% 18,659 37.69% 280 0.57%
1984 32,221 66.64% 15,880 32.84% 248 0.51%
1980 30,096 61.13% 13,587 27.60% 5,549 11.27%
1976 28,493 62.10% 16,601 36.18% 785 1.71%
1972 31,060 67.59% 14,824 32.26% 71 0.15%
1968 22,284 59.22% 12,779 33.96% 2,567 6.82%
1964 19,120 49.44% 19,550 50.56% 0 0.00%
1960 24,758 63.87% 13,971 36.04% 32 0.08%
1956 25,758 67.59% 12,332 32.36% 21 0.06%
1952 24,494 64.75% 13,296 35.15% 36 0.10%
1948 18,430 58.48% 12,904 40.94% 183 0.58%
1944 19,366 57.70% 14,011 41.75% 185 0.55%
1940 21,865 54.44% 18,024 44.87% 277 0.69%
1936 16,826 43.00% 21,508 54.96% 798 2.04%
1932 15,450 43.07% 19,535 54.46% 886 2.47%
1928 20,780 65.37% 10,742 33.79% 267 0.84%
1924 16,550 55.95% 6,826 23.07% 6,206 20.98%
1920 16,680 65.27% 6,411 25.09% 2,464 9.64%
1916 14,988 53.22% 11,699 41.54% 1,473 5.23%
1912 4,624 30.23% 5,356 35.02% 5,314 34.75%
1908 8,953 55.88% 5,982 37.33% 1,088 6.79%
1904 8,772 58.66% 4,149 27.74% 2,034 13.60%
1900 9,487 56.41% 6,613 39.32% 718 4.27%
1896 9,964 59.62% 6,328 37.87% 420 2.51%
1892 7,445 50.43% 6,487 43.94% 832 5.64%



Cities, Towns, and Townships[]

Map of McLean County Illinois

Map of McLean County, Illinois.

Ghost Towns[]

External links[]

Coordinates: 40°29′N 88°51′W / 40.49, -88.85

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at McLean County, Illinois. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.


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