Effingham County, Illinois

Effingham County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 34,264. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,243 (480 ). 1,240 km² (479 sq mi) of it is land and 3 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.25%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - west
 * - northwest

History
Effingham County was formed in out of  and. It is named after, who resigned his commission as general in the British army in 1775, refusing to serve in the war against the Colonies. The name is for "Effa's house". New information suggests that the county was named after a surveyor who surveyed the area whose last name was Effingham. There is no written proof that the county was named after Lord Effingham.

Giant Cross: Just west of on  there is a 198 ft. White Cross. 50,000 travellers are estimated to pass the site each day.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 34,264 people, 13,001 households, and 9,178 families residing in the county. The was 28/km² (72/sq mi). There were 13,959 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (29/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.66%, 0.16% or , 0.18% , 0.32% , 0.01% , 0.22% from , and 0.46% from two or more races. 0.74% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 13,001 households out of which 36.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.80% were living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.40% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.60% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,379, and the median income for a family was $46,895. Males had a median income of $31,442 versus $21,121 for females. The for the county was $18,301. About 6.00% of families and 8.10% of the population were below the, including 10.10% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over.

External references

 * History of Southern Illinois, George Washington Smith, 1912.