Calhoun County, Illinois
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Population Profile
Educational Attainment
Employment Overview
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 4.9% below the national average, so the nominal median of $93,203 is worth $98,005 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
- Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 15.6 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
- Aging population: Median age of 49 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Largest private-sector industry: Accommodation and Food Services employs 102 workers (37.5% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $14,859.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $131M (2024).
- Wage stratification: Construction averages $65,747 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $14,859, a 4.4x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
for rent or sale
HUD Fair Market Rents
- Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.0x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
- High home ownership: 88.7% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
- Elevated vacancy: 46.1% of housing units are vacant, above the Illinois rate of 7.7%, and up from 42.1% in 2019.
- Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 56% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
- Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 6.3% of the vacant stock, or 2.9% of all housing units against the 46.1% headline vacancy rate. Absorbable supply for an incoming employer is thin, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
- Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $55,625 can pay without cost burden (~$1,391/mo), and 23.6% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Education & Talent Pipeline
Aging Workforce
Workforce by Occupation
- Succession risk is real: 29.6% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
- Low participation: 55.1% labor force participation. The labor force itself fell 4.1% between 2019 and 2024, from 2,059 to 1,975.
- Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Calhoun County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 8 federal data sources.
Industry Shift Analysis
Prospect Match Scores
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Schedule a DemoData Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Calhoun County, Illinois, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Calhoun County, Illinois?
4,330 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Calhoun County, Illinois?
$93,203 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates). Adjusted for local prices using the BEA all-items regional price parity for St. Louis, MO-IL (95.1 against a national average of 100), that is $98,005 at national average prices. BEA publishes regional price parity at metro level; there is no county-level figure.
What is the unemployment rate in Calhoun County, Illinois?
4.7% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Calhoun County, Illinois?
$131M (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2).
