Christian County, Illinois Information & Christian County, Illinois Links at HealthHaven.com

Christian County
	Christian County, Illinois
	; Location in the state of Illinois
	; Illinois's location in the U.S.
Seat	Taylorville
Largest city	Taylorville
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 716 sq mi (1,854 km²); 709 sq mi (1,836 km²); 7 sq mi (17 km²), 0.93%
Population; - (2000); - Density	; 35,372; 50/sq mi (19/km²)
Founded	1839
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Christian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 35,372. Its county seat is Taylorville, Illinois^[1].

The Taylorville Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Christian County.

[edit] History

Christian County was formed February 15, 1839 out of Sangamon, Montgomery and Shelby Counties. It was named for Christian County, Kentucky.^[2]

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 716 square miles (1,854 km²), of which 709 square miles (1,836 km²) is land and 7 square miles (17 km²) (0.93%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Macon County (northeast)
Shelby County (southeast)
Montgomery County (southwest)
Sangamon County (northwest)

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Political subdivisions

[edit] Cities

[edit] Villages

[edit] Unincorporated

[edit] Townships

Christian County is divided into these seventeen townships:

[edit] Notable persons from Christian County

Harry Forrester - member of the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame and Quincy University Hall of Fame.
Jon Corzine - Governor of New Jersey, former resident of Willey Station.

[edit] Demographics

2000 census age pyramid for Christian County.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1840	1,878	—
1850	3,203	70.6%
1860	10,492	227.6%
1870	20,363	94.1%
1880	28,227	38.6%
1890	30,531	8.2%
1900	32,790	7.4%
1910	34,594	5.5%
1920	38,458	11.2%
1930	37,538	−2.4%
1940	38,564	2.7%
1950	38,816	0.7%
1960	37,207	−4.1%
1970	35,948	−3.4%
1980	36,446	1.4%
1990	34,418	−5.6%
2000	35,372	2.8%
UVa Census Browser 1830-1890^[3] Illinois Counties 1900-1990^[4]

As of the U.S. Census of 2000, there were 35,372 people, 13,921 households, and 9,480 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile (19/km²). There were 14,992 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile (8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.34% White, 2.14% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 0.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 26.7% were of German, 20.5% American, 11.9% English, 10.6% Irish and 6.9% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 98.1% spoke English and 1.1% Spanish as their first language.

There were 13,921 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.90% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 17.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,561, and the median income for a family was $43,342. Males had a median income of $32,344 versus $22,522 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,937. About 6.50% of families and 9.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.40% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over.