Tazewell County, Illinois

Tazewell County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 128,485. Its and largest city is. The majority of the population live in the suburbs and bedroom communities of Peoria along the western border of the county. It is part of the Peoria-Pekin MSA.

Tazewell County was formed out of in 1827. The consensus appears to be that it was named in honor of, who was serving in the U.S. Senate, and who became Governor of Virginia in 1834. It is, however, possible that it was named for Littleton's father, prominent Virginia politician, for whom was named.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,704 (658 ). 1,681 km² (649 sq mi) of it is land and 23 km² (9 sq mi) of it (1.37%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 128,485 people, 50,327 households, and 35,883 families residing in the county. The was 76/km² (198/sq mi). There were 52,973 housing units at an average density of 32/km² (82/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.40%, 0.88% or , 0.25% , 0.52% , 0.01% , 0.27% from , and 0.68% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 50,327 households out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.20% were living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.70% were non-families. 24.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,250, and the median income for a family was $53,412. Males had a median income of $41,148 versus $24,781 for females. The for the county was $21,511. About 4.40% of families and 6.30% of the population were below the, including 7.40% of those under age 18 and 5.20% of those age 65 or over.