Peoria County, Illinois


Peoria County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2010 United States Census listed its population at 186,494. Its county seat is Peoria.
Peoria County is part of the Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Peoria County was formed in 1825 out of Fulton County. It was named for the Peoria, an Illiniwek people who lived there. It included most of the western valley of the Illinois River up to the Chicago river portage.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The county is drained by Spoon River, Kickapoo Creek, Elbow Creek, and Copperas Creek.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Peoria have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1884 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

Adjacent counties

Major highways

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 186,494 people, 75,793 households, and 47,248 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 83,034 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 74.4% white, 17.7% black or African American, 3.1% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 1.6% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 28.3% were German, 14.8% were Irish, 10.4% were English, and 5.5% were American.
Of the 75,793 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.7% were non-families, and 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age was 36.8 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $49,747 and the median income for a family was $63,163. Males had a median income of $51,246 versus $32,881 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,157. About 10.3% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

Cities

Notable residents

People from Peoria County other than in the city of Peoria:
Peoria County is governed by an 18-member County Board which meets on the second Thursday of each month. Each member represents a district with roughly 10,000 residents.
DistrictBoard MemberResidenceIn office sinceParty
1Sharon K. WilliamsPeoria2012Democratic
2Junior WatkinsPeoria1994Democratic
3Barry RobinsonPeoria2016Democratic
4Andrew Rand Peoria2008Democratic
5Brandy BryantPeoria2019Democratic
6Dr. Eden BlairPeoria2019Democratic
7James C. DillonWest Peoria2006Democratic
8Phillip SalzerPeoriaunknownDemocratic
9Kate PastuchaPeoria Heights2017Democratic
10Rob ReneauPeoria2018Democratic
11Linda E. DaleyPeoria2019Republican
12Rachel RelifordPeoria2018Republican
13James Fennell Chillicothe2010Republican
14Brian ElsasserPrinceville1998Republican
15Steven B. RiekerPeoria2016Republican
16Matt WindishBrimfield2016Republican
17Jennifer Groves AllisonPeoria2019Democratic
18Paul RosenbohmPeoria2010Republican

The County also elects an Auditor, Circuit Clerk, Coroner, County Clerk, Sheriff, State's Attorney, Regional Superintendent, and Treasurer to four-year terms.
OfficeCurrent HolderIn office sinceParty
AuditorJessica Thomas2018Democratic
Circuit ClerkBobby Spears2002Democratic
CoronerJamie Harwood2016Democratic
County ClerkRachael Parker2019Democratic
SheriffBrian Asbell2017Republican
State's AttorneyJodi Hoos2019Democratic
Regional SuperintendentElizabeth Crider2014Democratic
TreasurerNicole Bjerke2017Republican

Politics

Prior to 1992, Peoria County usually voted for Republican candidates in presidential elections, only voting for Democratic Party candidates when they won nationally by a landslide. It began trending away from the GOP in the mid-1980s, as evidenced when Ronald Reagan only carried it with 55 percent of the vote in 1984 even as he was winning reelection in a landslide nationally.
From 1992 onward, the county has backed the Democratic candidate in every presidential election, though never by a margin greater than 10 percent aside from 2008 when Illinoisan Barack Obama won it by nearly 14 points. This relative closeness in results was most evident in 2004 when the county backed John Kerry over George W. Bush by only 70 votes.
In Congress, Peoria County is represented by Democrat Cheri Bustos of Illinois's 17th congressional district and Republican Darin LaHood of the Illinois's 18th congressional district
In the Illinois Senate, Peoria County is represented by Republican Chuck Weaver of the 37th Legislative District and Democrat Dave Koehler of the 46th Legislative District. In the Illinois House of Representatives, Peoria County is represented by Republican Ryan Spain of the 73rd Representative District, Republican Mike Unes of the 91st Representative District and Democrat Jehan Gordon-Booth of the 92nd Representative District.