Will County, Illinois

Will County is a located in the northern part of the  of. This county is part of the. As of 2000, the population was 502,266. In 2006, the estimated population is 668,217, making it one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. The of Will County is. The portion of Will County around Joliet uses the 815 area code, 630 area code for extreme northern Will County, and 708 area code for eastern Will County.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,200 (849 ). 2,168 km² (837 sq mi) of it is land and 32 km² (12 sq mi) of it (1.47%) is water.

The, and the  run through the county and join on its western border. The and the  run through Will County.

The 17,000 acre (69 km²) is a  park in the county on the grounds of the former. Other parks include and the.

Adjacent counties

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History
Will County was formed in 1836 out of, and. It was named after Dr. Conrad Will, a businessman involved in salt production in southern Illinois, and also a politician. (An interesting point about salt production at that time was the law allowed slaves to be leased from other states and used in the of Illinois only for salt production.) [Citation Needed]

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 502,266 people, 167,542 households, and 131,017 families residing in the county. The was 232/km² (600/sq mi). There were 175,524 housing units at an average density of 81/km² (210/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 81.83%, 10.45% or , 0.21% , 2.21% , 0.03% , 3.63% from , and 1.63% from two or more races. 8.71% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 167,542 households out of which 42.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.80% were living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.80% were non-families. 17.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the county the population was spread out with 30.00% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 32.90% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from 45 to 64, and 8.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $62,238, and the median income for a family was $69,608. Males had a median income of $50,152 versus $31,345 for females. The for the county was $24,613. About 3.40% of families and 4.90% of the population were below the, including 5.60% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.

Municipalities

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Education
is a 6,000 student four year public university located in.

The county is in Community College District 525 and is served by in. Joliet Junior College was the first two-year higher education institution in the United States.

Infrastructure
The county is a major hub in the United States pipeline grid where pipelines from  and the  meet and then fan out to serve the Midwest.

Major highways in the county include and. The toll road is currently being extended into the county to connect with.

Four different commuter rail lines (,,  and ) connect the county with the.

Historic sites
The following sites, in Will County, Illinois, are on the Listing: