McLean County, Illinois

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McLean County, Illinois
Location in the state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	1830
Seat	Bloomington
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,186 sq mi (3,072 km²) 184 sq mi (477 km²) 3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.37%
Population  - (2020)  - Density	170,954 127/sq mi (49/km²)
Website	www.co.mclean.il.us

McLean County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is included in the Bloomington-Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, the population was 170,954. Its county seat is Bloomington⁶.

Crop Production

McLean County boasts some of the richest soil in the world. Only patches of farmland in Argentina, southern Ukraine and along the Yellow River in China match the fertile ground that covers much of the northern half of Illinois, particularly a high-yielding band through the state's midsection. It is the top-producing county in the United States for both corn and soybeans.

Naming

McLean is pronounced "mik-LAIN" or "muh-KLAIN" (as with native son McLean Stevenson), not "mik-LEEN" as some non-natives say.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,186 sq mi (3,072 km²). 1,184 sq mi (3,065 km²) of it is land and 3 sq mi (7 km²) of it (0.23%) is water. McLean County is the largest county in Illinois in terms of land area, at 1,184 square miles.

Adjacent Counties

• Woodford County to the northwest
• Livingston County to the northeast
• Ford County to the east
• Champaign County to the southeast
• Piatt County to the south
• DeWitt County to the south
• Logan County to the southwest
• Tazewell County to the west

History

McLean County was formed late in 1830 out of Tazewell County. It was named for John McLean, United States Senator for Illinois, who died in 1830.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	67,843		—
1910	68,008		0.2%
1920	70,107		3.1%
1930	73,117		4.3%
1940	73,930		1.1%
1950	76,577		3.6%
1960	83,877		9.5%
1970	104,389		24.5%
1980	119,149		14.1%
1990	129,180		8.4%
2000	150,433		16.5%
2010	169,572		12.7%
IL Counties 1900-1990

As of the census² of 2000, there were 150,433 people, 56,746 households, and 35,466 families residing in the county. The population density was 49/km² (127/sq mi). There were 59,972 housing units at an average density of 20/km² (51/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.19% White, 6.19% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 2.05% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.01% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. 2.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 56,746 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.90% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.50% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.50% under the age of 18, 18.60% from 18 to 24, 29.20% from 25 to 44, 19.00% from 45 to 64, and 9.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,021, and the median income for a family was $61,073. Males had a median income of $41,290 versus $28,435 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,227. About 4.10% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 5.00% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Like most of central Illinois, McLean County is historically Republican-leaning. The only Democrats to gain an absolute majority of the county's vote since the Civil War have been Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, Lyndon Johnson by a mere 1.2% in 1964, and Joe Biden in 2020. Illinois resident Barack Obama in 2008 and Woodrow Wilson in 1912 both carried the county by narrow pluralities.

The county has not swung as heavily to the Democrats as other counties dominated by college towns. In recent years, however, McLean has trended sufficiently Democratic that Hillary Clinton in 2016 lost the county by just 1.3 percent, while Biden won the county in 2020 with a narrow majority.

McLean County is one of only twelve counties to have voted for Obama in 2008, Romney in 2012, Trump in 2016, and Biden in 2020.

United States presidential election results for McLean County, Illinois

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	40,502	46.35%	43,933	50.27%	2,952	3.38%
2016	37,237	45.79%	36,196	44.51%	7,891	9.70%
2012	39,947	54.37%	31,883	43.40%	1,639	2.23%
2008	36,767	48.46%	37,689	49.67%	1,422	1.87%
2004	41,276	57.63%	29,877	41.72%	467	0.65%
2000	34,008	55.84%	24,936	40.95%	1,954	3.21%
1996	26,428	49.46%	22,708	42.50%	4,299	8.05%
1992	25,726	43.39%	23,090	38.95%	10,469	17.66%
1988	30,572	61.75%	18,659	37.69%	280	0.57%
1984	32,221	66.64%	15,880	32.84%	248	0.51%
1980	30,096	61.13%	13,587	27.60%	5,549	11.27%
1976	28,493	62.10%	16,601	36.18%	785	1.71%
1972	31,060	67.59%	14,824	32.26%	71	0.15%
1968	22,284	59.22%	12,779	33.96%	2,567	6.82%
1964	19,120	49.44%	19,550	50.56%	0	0.00%
1960	24,758	63.87%	13,971	36.04%	32	0.08%
1956	25,758	67.59%	12,332	32.36%	21	0.06%
1952	24,494	64.75%	13,296	35.15%	36	0.10%
1948	18,430	58.48%	12,904	40.94%	183	0.58%
1944	19,366	57.70%	14,011	41.75%	185	0.55%
1940	21,865	54.44%	18,024	44.87%	277	0.69%
1936	16,826	43.00%	21,508	54.96%	798	2.04%
1932	15,450	43.07%	19,535	54.46%	886	2.47%
1928	20,780	65.37%	10,742	33.79%	267	0.84%
1924	16,550	55.95%	6,826	23.07%	6,206	20.98%
1920	16,680	65.27%	6,411	25.09%	2,464	9.64%
1916	14,988	53.22%	11,699	41.54%	1,473	5.23%
1912	4,624	30.23%	5,356	35.02%	5,314	34.75%
1908	8,953	55.88%	5,982	37.33%	1,088	6.79%
1904	8,772	58.66%	4,149	27.74%	2,034	13.60%
1900	9,487	56.41%	6,613	39.32%	718	4.27%
1896	9,964	59.62%	6,328	37.87%	420	2.51%
1892	7,445	50.43%	6,487	43.94%	832	5.64%

Cities, Towns, and Townships

Map of McLean County, Illinois.

• Anchor
• Arrowsmith
• Bellflower
• Bloomington
• Carlock
• Chenoa
• Colfax
• Cooksville
• Danvers
• Downs
• Ellsworth
• Gridley
• Heyworth
• Hudson
• Le Roy
• Lexington
• McLean
• Normal
• Saybrook
• Shirley
• Stanford
• Towanda

Ghost Towns

• Benjaminville
• Kumler

External links

• McLean County Government Web Site
• Map of McLean Co., showing political subdivisions