Jackson County vs Whiteside County

A side-by-side comparison of Jackson County and Whiteside County: population, income, housing, and more.

Jackson County and Whiteside County are counties in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Whiteside County has the higher population (55,192 vs 52,706 in Jackson County). Whiteside County has the higher median household income ($64,536 vs $45,572 in Jackson County). Whiteside County has the higher median home value ($125,800 vs $125,000 in Jackson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
Population	52,706	55,192
Median age	32.9 yrs	43.4 yrs
Median household income	$45,572	$64,536
Median home value	$125,000	$125,800
Median gross rent	$746	$808
Housing units	27,750	25,850
Homeownership rate	49.3%	75.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.1%	20.1%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
Population	57,977 → 52,706 (-9.1%)	56,016 → 55,192 (-1.5%)
Median household income	$37,241 → $45,572 (+22.4%)	$54,232 → $64,536 (+19.0%)
Median home value	$108,600 → $125,000 (+15.1%)	$106,700 → $125,800 (+17.9%)
Median gross rent	$691 → $746 (+8.0%)	$695 → $808 (+16.3%)

Jackson County

Population

57,97752,706

Median household income

$37,241$45,572

Median home value

$108,600$125,000

Median gross rent

$691$746

Whiteside County

Population

56,01655,192

Median household income

$54,232$64,536

Median home value

$106,700$125,800

Median gross rent

$695$808

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
Under 5	5.3%	5.3%
5 to 17	13.7%	16.7%
18 to 24	20.7%	7.6%
25 to 34	13.2%	10.8%
35 to 44	10.3%	11.4%
45 to 54	9.5%	12.3%
55 to 64	11.1%	14.4%
65 to 74	9.9%	12.3%
75 and over	6.4%	9.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
White (non-Hispanic)	72.2%	82.1%
Black or African American	14.3%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	3.6%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.8%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.6%	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	5.3%	13.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
No high school diploma	7.9%	9.0%
High school graduate	22.9%	37.8%
Some college or associate's	34.1%	33.1%
Bachelor's degree	18.2%	12.5%
Graduate or professional degree	16.8%	7.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
Drove alone	73.5%	80.6%
Carpooled	9.2%	9.7%
Public transit	1.1%	0.3%
Walked	5.4%	3.5%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.7%
Worked from home	8.7%	4.9%
Other means	1.6%	0.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
1-unit, detached	51.8%	81.2%
1-unit, attached	1.8%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	14.5%	7.8%
5 to 19 units	11.1%	3.9%
20 or more units	9.1%	3.0%
Mobile home & other	11.7%	2.4%

Poverty & households

	Jackson County	Whiteside County
Poverty rate	21.8%	12.1%
Average household size	2.13	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	20	20
Median year structure built	1976	1960