LaSalle County, IL

County Profile

108,714 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for LaSalle 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.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 36% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1091st of 1,255 counties measured35
Schools573rd of 973 counties measured43
Growth956th of 1,226 counties measured35
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,255 counties measured100
Climate1008th of 1,254 counties measured60
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 1,255 counties measured81
Access943rd of 1,255 counties measured67
Economic stability670th of 1,255 counties measured60
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places LaSalle County in the bottom 13%.

In the public schools here, 17% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.6 students for every teacher.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published profiles, placing LaSalle County in the top 20% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
108,714
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,045
Top 30% nationally
Density
96/sq mi
1135.1 sq mi of land
Median age
42.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
LaSalle County
Illinois
Metro area
Ottawa, IL
Nearest major airport
BMI
60 mi · Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-Normal
Median home value
$161,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 28% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 1.6% over the past year, to 47,554 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,890$73,045Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,283$39,375Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.9%Top 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.9 minTop 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher20.5%Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment47,554Top 46%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.9%Bottom 6%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.6%Bottom 28%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force49,948Top 45%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation61.3%Top 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 28%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.54.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202473k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,045 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.

17% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 25% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.6 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
53
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
17.0%
Bottom 22% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
25.3%
Bottom 46% in Illinois
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ottawa Township High SchoolOttawa Twp HSD 1401,22313.7
La Salle-Peru Twp High SchoolLa Salle-Peru Twp HSD 1201,16713.1
Streator Twp High SchoolStreator Twp HSD 4076413.9
Northwest Elem SchoolLa Salle ESD 12265011.44%17%
Northlawn Jr High SchoolStreator ESD 4461415.710%17%
Northview Elem SchoolPeru ESD 12459413.525%32%
Marseilles Elementary SchoolMarseilles ESD 15052812.615%15%
Northbrook SchoolMendota CCSD 28952613.87%20%
Mendota Twp High SchoolMendota Twp HSD 28049313.3
Centennial Elem SchoolStreator ESD 4448216.112%22%
Wallace Elem SchoolWallace CCSD 19542015.027%30%
Kimes Elem SchoolStreator ESD 4441515.4

52.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $928 takes 15% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.2 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
15.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$928
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$161,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.22Bottom 17%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate74.4%Top 50%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5749,843Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$24$928Top 40%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,651$161,900Bottom 38%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income15.2%Bottom 29%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.0%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
35/ 100
Ranks 956 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2022 to 2025.

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 1% since 2020, reaching 108,390 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
85
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
+20%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024109k108k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
20222023202420258762
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−29%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 36.2 inches, including 23.7 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OTTAWA 5SW, 1.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation36.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall23.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing51°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

81 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake.

Inland floodingModerate
DroughtModerate
Strong windModerate
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, lightning, winter weather, heat wave, landslide, ice storm, hail, hurricane, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

LaSalle County records 2.5 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.5 per 100,000 residents in LaSalle County.

Homicide
2.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
22.2
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for LaSalle County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around LaSalle County rather than LaSalle County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 60 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-NormalBMI60 mi8,000 ft
General Downing - Peoria IntlPIA63 mi10,104 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD67 mi11,245 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
58
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.