Winnebago County, Illinois

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Winnebago County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 285,350 making it the seventh most populous county in Illinois behind Cook County and its five surrounding collar counties. Its county seat is Rockford.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Winnebago County is the central county of the Rockford metropolitan area.

History

Winnebago County was formed on January 16, 1836, out of Jo Daviess and LaSalle counties. It was named for the Ho-Chunk or Winnebago tribe of Native Americans. At the time the county was founded its inhabitants consisted almost entirely of New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York.<ref>History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois: From the First Settlement in 1834 to the Civil War pg. 253</ref> These were "Yankee" settlers, meaning they were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England during the early 1600s. They made up virtually all of Winnebago County's inhabitants during the first several decades of its history. In this regard the county was similar to most of the northern portion of the state of Illinois, and almost all of the neighboring state of Wisconsin. After the conclusion of the Black Hawk War there was an additional surge of immigration from New England. As a result of this heritage the inhabitants of Winnebago County considered themselves, and functioned as, a cultural expansion of early New England culture.<ref>The Expansion of New England: The Spread of New England Settlement and Institutions to the Mississippi River, 1620-1865 by Lois imball Mathews pg. 210-212</ref> In the presidential election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln won 3,985 votes in Winnebago County, whereas Stephen A. Douglas only won 817 votes.<ref>History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois: From the First Settlement in 1834 to the Civil War, pg. 379</ref>

Winnebago County for its first year of existence
Winnebago County in 1837, reduced to its current borders by the creation of Stephenson and Boone Counties

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (1.1%) is water.<ref name="census-density"/>

Climate and weather

Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Rockford have ranged from a low of Template:Convert in January to a high of Template:Convert in July, although a record low of Template:Convert was recorded in January 1982 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in February to Template:Convert in June.<ref name="weather"/>

Major highways

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Transit

Adjacent counties

Rock County, Wisconsin (north)
Boone County (east)
DeKalb County (southeast)
Ogle County (south)
Carroll County (southwest)
Stephenson County (west)
Green County, Wisconsin (northwest)

Demographics

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2020 census

**Winnebago County, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition**
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 1980<ref name=1980Census>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 1990<ref name=1990Census>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	% 1980	% 1990	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	222,134	218,403	220,817	214,196	183,235	88.54%	86.35%	79.31%	72.54%	64.21%
Black or African American alone (NH)	20,830	23,053	29,038	35,358	38,240	8.30%	9.11%	10.43%	11.97%	13.40%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	509	604	584	563	559	0.20%	0.24%	0.21%	0.19%	0.20%
Asian alone (NH)	1,222	2,899	4,719	6,722	7,938	0.49%	1.15%	1.69%	2.28%	2.78%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census</ref>	x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census</ref>	76	61	66	x	x	0.03%	0.02%	0.02%
Other race alone (NH)	790	183	216	319	1,099	0.31%	0.07%	0.08%	0.11%	0.39%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	x <ref>not an option in the 1980 Census</ref>	x <ref>not an option in the 1990 Census</ref>	3,762	5,870	13,261	x	x	1.35%	1.99%	4.65%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	5,399	7,771	19,206	32,177	40,952	2.15%	3.07%	6.90%	10.90%	14.35%
Total	250,884	252,913	278,418	295,266	285,350	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2010 census, there were 295,266 people, 115,501 households, and 76,854 families residing in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 125,965 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 77.4% white, 12.2% black or African American, 2.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 4.9% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 10.9% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 25.6% were German, 13.5% were Irish, 9.4% were American, 8.7% were Swedish, 8.3% were English, and 7.4% were Italian.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 115,501 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.5% were non-families, and 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.07. The median age was 38.3 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $47,198 and the median income for a family was $59,814. Males had a median income of $48,358 versus $32,103 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,008. About 11.5% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Communities

Cities

Townships

Winnebago County is divided into these townships:

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Former Settlement

Camp Grant

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Politics

For many years, Winnebago County was rather conservative for an urban county. From the 1850s to 1988, it backed the Republican candidates for president at every election except the national Democratic landslides of 1936 and 1964. In the 1990s, it became a swing county, backing the national winner in every presidential election from 1992 to 2012, though only three did so with a majority and only once by more than six percentage points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the county by only 89 votes over Donald Trump, affected by the relatively large third-party vote that year.

Underlining how Republican Winnebago County once was, only three Democrats have represented a significant portion of the county in Congress since the 1850s.

Education

School districts include:<ref name=WinnebagoCoSDMap2020>Template:Cite map - Text list</ref> Template:Div col

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There is one secondary school district with territory in the county: Hononegah Community High School District 207.<ref name=WinnebagoCoSDMap2020/>

Elementary school districts include:<ref name=WinnebagoCoSDMap2020/> Template:Div col

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References

Specific

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General

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External links

Template:Geographic Location Template:Winnebago County, Illinois Template:US state navigation box Template:Authority control Template:Coord

Winnebago County, Illinois

Contents

History