Fulton County, IL

County Profile

33,020 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Fulton County, IL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 48% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity759th of 1,463 counties measured54
Schools973rd of 1,377 counties measured34
Growth1,030th of 1,453 counties measured39
Housing affordabilityTop 33% of 1,462 counties measured77
Climate1,061st of 1,463 counties measured61
Physical resilienceTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured82
AccessTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured85
Economic stability1,125th of 1,463 counties measured39
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.9% and median household income $60,599, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 24% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.0 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 28% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.5 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
33,020
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,599
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
38/sq mi
865.7 sq mi of land
Median age
43.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Fulton County
Illinois
Micro area
Nearest major airport
PIA
30 mi · General Downing - Peoria Intl
Median home value
$107,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9%, lower than in 57% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.8% over the past year, to 14,489 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$46,53112th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$51,21627th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,3082024 ACS 5-Year$60,599Bottom 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3562024 ACS 5-Year$32,918Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$50,911Bottom 28%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.4%Top 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.9 minBottom 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.5%Bottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.8%85th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202614,489Bottom 20%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.5%Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.8%Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202615,07120th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.7%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%34th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Top 14%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.9%Top 43%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%18th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.53.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202461k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,599 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

24% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.0 students for every full-time teacher across 21 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
24
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.0
across 21 of them
Math proficiency
23.7%
Bottom 17% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
31.1%
Bottom 26% in Illinois
The 12 largest of 24 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ingersoll Middle SchoolCanton Union SD 6663112.928%35%
Canton High SchoolCanton Union SD 6661213.932%37%
Westview Elementary SchoolCanton Union SD 6637715.132%27%
Central Elem SchoolLewistown CUSD 9732613.017%22%
Eastview Elementary SchoolCanton Union SD 6628811.132%42%
Lewistown Jr/Sr High SchoolLewistown CUSD 9726211.917%27%
Abingdon-Avon Middle SchAbingdon-Avon CUSD 27620415.76%14%
Cuba Elem SchoolCUSD 3 Fulton County18813.442%42%
Lincoln Elementary SchoolCanton Union SD 6618610.327%37%
V I T Elementary SchoolV I T CUSD 216811.212%17%
Astoria Elem SchoolAstoria CUSD 114512.112%32%
Spoon River Valley Elem SchoolSpoon River Valley CUSD 413410.342%47%

51.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois is up 45% over five years, and up 5.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,289 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.14% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $916, some 17% above the $785 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $916 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $36,600 a year, about 60% of the median household income here of $60,599.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $785 a month.

A median home at $107,200 costs 1.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,012, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
27.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$916
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$785
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$107,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Fulton County’s median household income of $60,599, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2+5.6%83rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2+44.8%48th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2+68.1%12th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year1.5Top 5%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%61st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±572024 ACS 5-Year15,84857th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$708Top 7%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,274Top 21%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$916Top 9%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$482024 ACS 5-Year$785Top 31%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,2292024 ACS 5-Year$107,20010th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1372024 ACS 5-Year$2,28972nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,7702024 ACS 5-Year$70,012Bottom 34%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year2.14%98th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.9%Bottom 48%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±862024 ACS 5-Year22439th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.4%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.5%66th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2792024 ACS 5-Year2,05355th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

39/ 100
Ranks 1,030 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 32,510 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 19 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Fulton County lost about 0.9% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $46,531, below the $51,216 of households that moved out.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
19
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 9% nationally
Year over year
+73%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202434k33k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
28%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$46,531
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$51,216
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Peoria County, IL 148 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. Tazewell County, IL 87 people · 9.9% of arrivals
  3. McDonough County, IL 71 people · 8.1% of arrivals
  4. Mason County, IL 59 people · 6.7% of arrivals
  5. Knox County, IL 51 people · 5.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Peoria County, IL 193 people · 18% of departures
  2. McDonough County, IL 138 people · 13% of departures
  3. Tazewell County, IL 123 people · 11% of departures
  4. Knox County, IL 60 people · 5.5% of departures
  5. Schuyler County, IL 38 people · 3.5% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420252714
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−7%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.6 inches, including 26.2 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PEORIA GTR PEORIA AP, 30.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals26.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals51°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 41% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 83% of measured US counties.

HailElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Strong windElevated
TornadoHigh
Ice stormModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, cold wave, heat wave, drought, inland flooding, winter weather, lightning, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, coastal flooding, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Fulton County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.5 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.0 per 100,000 residents in Fulton County.

Homicide
3.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
14.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Fulton County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest General Downing - Peoria Intl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year87.9%Top 42%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miTop 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%Top 38%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
General Downing - Peoria IntlPIA30 mi10,104 ft
Abraham Lincoln CapitalSPI51 mi8,001 ft
Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-NormalBMI68 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
59
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Fulton County, IL