Williamson County, IL

County Profile

66,876 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Williamson 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.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 33% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 37% of 1,255 counties measured61
SchoolsTop 30% of 973 counties measured67
GrowthTop 47% of 1,226 counties measured52
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,255 counties measured100
ClimateTop 30% of 1,254 counties measured73
Physical resilience853rd of 1,255 counties measured47
AccessTop 11% of 1,255 counties measured97
Economic stability756th of 1,255 counties measured55
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $65,604, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

In the public schools here, 23% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

A major airport is 5 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
66,876
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,604
Top 49% nationally
Density
159/sq mi
420.2 sq mi of land
Median age
41.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Williamson County
Illinois
Metro area
Marion-Herrin, IL
Nearest major airport
MWA
5 mi · Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois
Median home value
$156,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 50% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment held steady over the past year, at 30,043 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,466$65,604Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,406$37,284Top 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income$56,134Bottom 48%of 1,2062023
Poverty rate13.8%Top 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.5 minBottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.2%Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment30,043Bottom 39%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)3.9%Top 14%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.0%Top 33%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force31,361Bottom 39%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation58.8%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 44%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Top 50%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.33.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% 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
202120222023202466k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,604 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.

23% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
24
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across all schools here
Math proficiency
23.0%
Top 46% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
33.8%
Top 17% in Illinois
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Marion High SchoolMarion CUSD 21,07514.7
Marion Jr High SchoolMarion CUSD 274215.517%37%
Herrin C U S D 4 Elem SchoolHerrin CUSD 471213.722%25%
Carterville High SchoolCarterville CUSD 566817.1
Herrin High SchoolHerrin CUSD 466213.0
Tri-C Elementary SchoolCarterville CUSD 565014.127%42%
Herrin Middle SchoolHerrin CUSD 451313.527%32%
Carterville Intermediate SchCarterville CUSD 550014.327%45%
Lincoln Elem SchoolMarion CUSD 248213.420%30%
Washington Elem SchoolMarion CUSD 246513.734%46%
North Side Primary CenterHerrin CUSD 443312.0
Jefferson Elem SchoolMarion CUSD 237613.427%34%

54.1% 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 $930 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.4 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
17.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$930
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$156,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.38Bottom 23%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.7%Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5832,084Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$37$930Top 40%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,461$156,400Bottom 34%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.0%Top 50%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.7%Bottom 28%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
52/ 100
Top 47% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 67,064 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 6% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
141
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 37% nationally
Year over year
+15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
5.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202467k67k
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
2022202320242025145127
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−6%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.0 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CARBONDALE SOUTHERN IL AP, 17.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation44.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°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

47 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, strong wind and hail.

Strong windHigh
EarthquakeElevated
Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormModerate
HailModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, tornado, landslide, inland flooding, lightning, drought, 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 — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Williamson County records 3.8 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 25.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.8 per 100,000 residents in Williamson County.

Homicide
3.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
25.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
9.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
31.5
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 Williamson 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 Williamson County rather than Williamson 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
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. 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

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

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Veterans Airport of Southern IllinoisMWA5 mi8,012 ft
Evansville RgnlEVV79 mi8,021 ft
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB96 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
67
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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)
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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.

Cities in Williamson County, IL