Edwards County, Illinois

Edwards County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 6,971. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 577 (223 ). 576 km² (222 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (0.386 sq mi) of it (0.14%) is water.

When Edwards County was formed in 1814, it comprised nearly half of the State of Illinois. New counties were formed from it until, in 1824, it assumed its present form. Edwards County is now one of the smallest counties in Illinois.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (west)

History
Edwards County was named for, the governor of the Illinois Territory, and, later, governor of Illinois.

Unlike most of the counties in Illinois, Edwards County is subdivided into "Road Districts", as opposed to "". Most of Illinois was surveyed according to the, which required the establishment of townships that are six miles square. Most of the counties in the State are made up of such townships. Edwards County, on the other hand, consists of Road Districts that do not generally correspond with the surveyed townships. This is a reflection of the fact that Edwards County was settled prior to the survey that established the townships.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 6,971 people, 2,905 households, and 2,027 families residing in the county. The was 12/km² (31/sq mi). There were 3,199 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (14/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.87%, 0.14% or , 0.09% , 0.40% , 0.04% , 0.09% from , and 0.37% from two or more races. 0.46% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 2,905 households out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.00% were living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were non-families. 27.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.10% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,816, and the median income for a family was $38,750. Males had a median income of $27,165 versus $19,579 for females. The for the county was $16,187. About 6.30% of families and 9.80% of the population were below the, including 13.80% of those under age 18 and 8.70% of those age 65 or over.