McLean County, Illinois

McLean County is a U.S. county in the east central region of Illinois, and is the largest county by land area in the state. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 170,954. Its county seat is Bloomington. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Pronunciation

Locally, the second syllable of McLean is pronounced with a 'long a' (ā, IPA /ei/) sound (i.e. “muh-KLAIN") (as with native son McLean Stevenson), not a 'long e' (ē, IPA /i/) sound (“muh-KLEEN").

History

The first white settlers in what became McLean County arrived around 1821. The first settlement was Blooming Grove, established in 1822 near present-day Bloomington.

File:McLean_County_Illinois_1830.png|McLean County from the time of its creation to 1837

File:McLean County Illinois 1837.png|McLean County between 1837 and 1841

File:McLean County Illinois 1841.png|McLean County in 1841, reduced to its present borders

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Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Bloomington have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May.

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br />1790-1960 1900-1990<br />1990-2000 2010-2019

The racial makeup of the county was 77.3% White, 8.8% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.8% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.5% from some other race, and 6.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.2% of the population.

78.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 21.6% lived in rural areas.

There were 69,096 households in the county, of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.2% were married-couple households, 20.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|112,222

|120,156

|132,224

|138,835

|style='background: #ffffe6; |129,440

|94.19%

|93.01%

|87.90%

|81.87%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |75.72%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|4,689

|5,485

|9,189

|12,246

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14,699

|3.94%

|4.25%

|6.11%

|7.22%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |8.60%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|106

|180

|224

|290

|style='background: #ffffe6; |258

|0.09%

|0.14%

|0.15%

|0.17%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|Asian alone (NH)

|811

|1,609

|3,072

|7,180

|style='background: #ffffe6; |8,108

|0.68%

|1.25%

|2.04%

|4.23%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.74%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|43

|48

|style='background: #ffffe6; |38

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|Other race alone (NH)

|202

|79

|145

|203

|style='background: #ffffe6; |618

|0.17%

|0.06%

|0.10%

|0.12%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.36%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|1,703

|3,336

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7,269

|1.13%

|1.97%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.25%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|1,119

|1,671

|3,833

|7,434

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10,524

|0.94%

|1.29%

|2.55%

|4.38%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.16%

|Total

|119,149

|129,180

|150,433

|169,572

|style='background: #ffffe6; |170,954

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 169,572 people, 65,104 households, and 40,124 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 69,656 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 84.3% white, 7.3% black or African American, 4.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.5% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.4% of the population.

Of the 65,104 households, 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.4% were non-families, and 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age was 32.1 years.

Communities

Cities

Bloomington (seat)
Chenoa
El Paso
Le Roy
Lexington

Town

Normal

Villages

Anchor
Arrowsmith
Bellflower
Carlock
Colfax
Cooksville
Danvers
Downs
Ellsworth
Gridley
Heyworth
Hudson
McLean
Saybrook
Stanford
Towanda

thumb|400px|Map of McLean County, Illinois

Census-designated place

Shirley
Twin Grove

Other unincorporated communities

Barnes
Bentown
Bloomington Heights
Covell
Cropsey
Fletcher
Funks Grove
Gillum
Hendrix
Holder
Kerrick
Laurette
Lytleville
Meadows
Merna
Osman
Padua
Randolph
Sabina
Shirley
Watkins
Weedman
Weston
Yuton

Townships

McLean County is divided into these townships:

Allin
Anchor
Arrowsmith
Bellflower
Bloomington
Bloomington City
Blue Mound
Cheney's Grove
Chenoa
Cropsey
Dale
Danvers
Dawson
Downs
Dry Grove
Empire
Funk's Grove
Gridley
Hudson
Lawndale
Lexington
Martin
Money Creek
Mount Hope
Normal
Old Town
Randolph
Towanda
West
White Oak
Yates

Ghost towns

Allin
Benjaminville
Kumler

Government

McLean County has a twenty-member board representing ten districts within the county. Each district elects two members. Districts 1-3 encompass all of the county outside of Bloomington and Normal. Districts 4-6 are within the town limits of Normal, and districts 7-10 are within Bloomington city limits.

Politics

Like most of central Illinois, McLean County is historically Republican-leaning. The only Democrats to gain an absolute majority of the county's vote before the 21st century have been Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, and Lyndon Johnson by a mere 1.2% in 1964. Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and Illinois resident Barack Obama in 2008 both carried the county by narrow pluralities.

In recent years, however, McLean has trended sufficiently Democratic that Hillary Clinton in 2016 lost the county by just 1.3 percent, while Joe Biden won the county in 2020 with a narrow majority.

Further solidifying the county's leftward shift in the 2020s, Governor J. B. Pritzker won the county by 1.3% in 2022, making it the first time since 1948 it supported a Democrat for governor.

In 2024, Kamala Harris became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win McLean County yet lose the presidential election. The county shifted left by about 1% from 2020 to 2024, despite both Illinois and the country shifting rightward.

McLean County is one of only thirteen counties to have voted for Obama in 2008, Romney in 2012, Trump in 2016, and Biden in 2020.

Education

Here is a list of school districts (all fully K-12) with territory in the county, no matter how slight, even if the district's schools and/or administrative offices are not in the county:

Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18
Bloomington School District 87
El Paso-Gridley Community Unit School District 11
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Community Unit School District 5
Heyworth Community Unit School District 4
Le Roy Community Unit School District 2
Lexington Community Unit School District 7
McLean County Unit School District 5
Olympia Community Unit School District 16
Prairie Central Community Unit School District 8
Ridgeview Community Unit School District 19
Tri-Valley Community Unit School District 3

Illinois State University is in the county.

Notable persons

George J. Mecherle, founder of State Farm
Adlai Stevenson II, Governor of Illinois (1949–53), two-time Democratic nominee for the U.S. presidency, and Ambassador to the United Nations (1961–65)
Pokey LaFarge, musician and songwriter
Bonnie Lou, recording artist and television celebrity
William H. Rowe, farmer, businessman, and politician
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, host of popular 1950/60 T.V. program Life is Worth Living and Catholic Archbishop of the Diocese of Rochester, New York

Notes

References

External links

McLean County Government Web Site
Map of McLean Co., showing political subdivisions