Jefferson County vs Livingston County

A side-by-side comparison of Jefferson County and Livingston County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Jefferson County has the higher population (36,808 vs 35,659 in Livingston County). Livingston County has the higher median household income ($70,796 vs $61,102 in Jefferson County). Livingston County has the higher median home value ($131,500 vs $118,400 in Jefferson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
Population	36,808	35,659
Median age	41.1 yrs	41.9 yrs
Median household income	$61,102	$70,796
Median home value	$118,400	$131,500
Median gross rent	$862	$855
Housing units	16,650	15,930
Homeownership rate	71.9%	73.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.4%	18.5%
Unemployment rate	6.6%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
Population	37,985 → 36,808 (-3.1%)	36,040 → 35,659 (-1.1%)
Median household income	$49,896 → $61,102 (+22.5%)	$55,160 → $70,796 (+28.3%)
Median home value	$96,700 → $118,400 (+22.4%)	$109,400 → $131,500 (+20.2%)
Median gross rent	$701 → $862 (+23.0%)	$715 → $855 (+19.6%)

Jefferson County

Population

37,98536,808

Median household income

$49,896$61,102

Median home value

$96,700$118,400

Median gross rent

$701$862

Livingston County

Population

36,04035,659

Median household income

$55,160$70,796

Median home value

$109,400$131,500

Median gross rent

$715$855

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
Under 5	5.8%	5.7%
5 to 17	16.6%	16.4%
18 to 24	7.3%	7.4%
25 to 34	12.1%	12.2%
35 to 44	12.5%	12.8%
45 to 54	12.4%	11.3%
55 to 64	13.5%	14.4%
65 to 74	11.6%	11.5%
75 and over	8.1%	8.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
White (non-Hispanic)	84.3%	88.2%
Black or African American	6.2%	3.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	0.9%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	5.5%	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	2.7%	5.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
No high school diploma	8.6%	9.7%
High school graduate	32.7%	40.4%
Some college or associate's	40.3%	31.4%
Bachelor's degree	11.6%	12.6%
Graduate or professional degree	6.8%	5.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
Drove alone	82.3%	80.8%
Carpooled	10.3%	7.1%
Public transit	0.3%	0.2%
Walked	1.1%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.0%
Worked from home	4.8%	6.8%
Other means	1.3%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
1-unit, detached	69.7%	78.2%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	1.7%
2 to 4 units	4.4%	7.4%
5 to 19 units	5.5%	4.2%
20 or more units	2.5%	2.4%
Mobile home & other	17.3%	6.1%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson County	Livingston County
Poverty rate	14.2%	10.0%
Average household size	2.38	2.30
Mean commute (minutes)	20	22
Median year structure built	1977	1961