Athens vs Petersburg

A side-by-side comparison of Athens and Petersburg: population, income, housing, and more.

Athens and Petersburg are places in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Petersburg has the higher population (2,590 vs 2,146 in Athens). Athens has the higher median household income ($85,000 vs $59,850 in Petersburg). Petersburg has the higher median home value ($174,800 vs $164,200 in Athens).

Population, income & housing

	Athens	Petersburg
Population	2,146	2,590
Median age	33.3 yrs	38.8 yrs
Median household income	$85,000	$59,850
Median home value	$164,200	$174,800
Median gross rent	$893	$665
Housing units	959	1,311
Homeownership rate	74.7%	57.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.6%	29.6%
Unemployment rate	7.7%	1.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Athens	Petersburg
Population	2,120 → 2,146 (+1.2%)	2,513 → 2,590 (+3.1%)
Median household income	$71,875 → $85,000 (+18.3%)	$54,833 → $59,850 (+9.1%)
Median home value	$123,100 → $164,200 (+33.4%)	$98,000 → $174,800 (+78.4%)
Median gross rent	$788 → $893 (+13.3%)	$681 → $665 (-2.3%)

Athens

Population

2,1202,146

Median household income

$71,875$85,000

Median home value

$123,100$164,200

Median gross rent

$788$893

Petersburg

Population

2,5132,590

Median household income

$54,833$59,850

Median home value

$98,000$174,800

Median gross rent

$681$665

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Athens	Petersburg
Under 5	4.1%	4.9%
5 to 17	22.8%	14.5%
18 to 24	10.7%	11.4%
25 to 34	15.0%	15.9%
35 to 44	12.9%	11.1%
45 to 54	9.9%	17.0%
55 to 64	13.4%	8.9%
65 to 74	6.0%	8.9%
75 and over	5.1%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Athens	Petersburg
White (non-Hispanic)	90.4%	94.6%
Black or African American	2.1%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.9%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.2%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	4.3%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Athens	Petersburg
No high school diploma	4.1%	8.5%
High school graduate	32.1%	32.0%
Some college or associate's	38.2%	29.9%
Bachelor's degree	15.5%	15.2%
Graduate or professional degree	10.0%	14.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Athens	Petersburg
Drove alone	78.6%	84.3%
Carpooled	13.9%	2.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	6.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.8%	6.8%
Other means	0.8%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Athens	Petersburg
1-unit, detached	90.2%	71.0%
1-unit, attached	1.5%	0.9%
2 to 4 units	4.5%	11.3%
5 to 19 units	0.8%	4.8%
20 or more units	0.0%	9.6%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	2.4%

Poverty & households

	Athens	Petersburg
Poverty rate	9.4%	15.5%
Average household size	2.43	2.06
Mean commute (minutes)	25	23
Median year structure built	1982	1961