Will County, Illinois

Will County, Illinois
Will County is a county in the northeastern part of the state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 696,355, an increase of 2.8% from 677,560 in 2010, making it Illinois's fourth-most populous county. The county seat is Joliet. Will County is one of the five collar counties of the Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. The portion of Will County around Joliet uses area codes 815 and 779, while 630 and 331 are for far northern Will County and 708 is for central and eastern Will County.
History
Will County was formed on January 12, 1836, out of Cook and Iroquois Counties. It was named after Conrad Will, a politician and businessman involved in salt production in southern Illinois. Will was a member of the first Illinois Constitutional Convention and a member of the Illinois legislature until his death in 1835. Besides its present area, the county originally included the part of Kankakee County, Illinois, north of the Kankakee River. It lost that area when Kankakee County was organized in 1852. Since then its boundaries have not changed.
36 locations in Will County are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water.
The Kankakee River, Du Page River and the Des Plaines River run through the county and join on its western border. The Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal run through Will County.
A number of areas are preserved as parks (over total) under the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a U.S. Forest Service park in the county on the grounds of the former Joliet Arsenal. Other parks include Channahon State Park and the Des Plaines Fish and Wildlife Area.
Climate and weather
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Joliet 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 January to in July.
Adjacent counties
Kane County (northwest)
DuPage County (north)
Cook County (northeast)
Lake County, Indiana (east)
Kankakee County (south)
Grundy County (southwest)
Kendall County (west)
Demographics
As of the 2010 Census, there were 677,560 people, 225,256 households, and 174,062 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 237,501 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 76.0% white, 11.2% black or African American, 4.6% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 5.8% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 15.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.6% were German, 18.6% were Irish, 13.3% were Polish, 11.1% were Italian, 5.9% were English, and 2.1% were American.
Of the 225,256 households, 44.0% had children under 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 22.7% were non-families, and 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.41. The median age was 35.4.
The median income for a household in the county was $75,906 and the median income for a family was $85,488. Males had a median income of $60,867 versus $40,643 for females. The per capita income was $29,811. About 5.0% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.0% of those under 18 and 5.6% of those 65 or older.
Government
Will County is governed by a 22-member county board elected from 11 districts. Each district elects two members. The county executive, county clerk, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder of deeds, state's attorney, and sheriff are all elected in a countywide vote.
Politics
Like most of the collar counties, Will County was once a Republican stronghold. It went Republican in all but three elections from 1892 to 1988. Since the 1990s, it has become a swing county. It voted for the national winner in every presidential election from 1980 to 2012, but Chicago-born Hillary Clinton won it along with the rest of the "collar counties" aside from McHenry in 2016.
Education
Governors State University is a 6,000-student public university in University Park.
Lewis University is a 5,200-student four-year private university in Romeoville.
University of St. Francis is a 3,300-student four-year private university in Joliet.
The county is in Community College District 525 and is served by Joliet Junior College in Joliet. Joliet Junior College was the first two-year higher education institution in the United States.
K-12 school districts
K-12 school districts, including any with any territory in Will County, no matter how slight, even if the schools and/or administrative headquarters are in other counties:
K-12:
Beecher Community Unit School District 200U
Coal City Community Unit School District 1
Crete-Monee Community Unit School District 201-U
Indian Prairie Community Unit School District 204
Manteno Community Unit School District 5
Naperville Community Unit District 203
Oswego Community Unit School District 308
Peotone Community Unit School District 207U
Plainfield School District 202
Reed Custer Community Unit School District 255U
Valley View Community Unit School District 365U
Wilmington Community Unit School District 209U
Secondary:
Bloom Township High School District 206
Joliet Township High School District 204
Lincoln Way Community High School District 210
Lockport Township High School District 205
Minooka Community High School District 111
Elementary:
Chaney-Monge School District 88
Channahon School District 17
Elwood Community Consolidated School District 203
Fairmont School District 89
Frankfort Community Consolidated School District 157C
Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C
Joliet Public School District 86
Laraway Community Consolidated School District 70C
Lockport School District 91
Manhattan School District 114
Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201
Mokena School District 159
New Lenox School District 122
Richland School District 88A
Rockdale School District 84
Steger School District 194;
Summit Hill School District 161
Taft School District 90
Troy Community Consolidated School District 30C
Union School District 81
Will County School District 92
Transportation
Will County is served by four U.S. interstate highways, four U.S. highways, and 12 Illinois highways. Pace provides bus transit services within the county.
Rail
Four different Metra commuter rail lines (Metra Electric Main Line, Southwest Service, Rock Island District and Heritage Corridor) connect Will County with the Chicago Loop. Amtrak serves the county at Joliet Transportation Center. The Lincoln Service operates between Chicago and St. Louis, while the Texas Eagle provides service from Chicago south to San Antonio and west to Los Angeles.
Major highways
Interstate 55
Interstate 57
Interstate 80
Interstate 355
U.S. Highway 6
U.S. Highway 30
U.S. Highway 45
U.S. Highway 52
U.S. Highway 66
Illinois Route 1
Illinois Route 7
Illinois Route 43
Illinois Route 50
Illinois Route 53
Illinois Route 59
Illinois Route 102
Illinois Route 113
Illinois Route 126
Illinois Route 129
Illinois Route 171
Illinois Route 394
Energy infrastructure
Pipelines
Will County is a major hub in the national natural gas pipeline grid where pipelines from Canada and the Gulf of Mexico meet and then fan out to serve the Midwest. The following major energy companies own pipeline that runs through Will County:
Alliance Pipeline
Enbridge
Integrys Energy Group
Peoples Gas
Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission
TransCanada
ANR Pipeline - Fully owned & operated
Northern Border Pipeline - Partially owned & fully operated
Vector Pipeline
Joliet Refinery
ExxonMobil owns and operates the Joliet Refinery along the Des Plaines River just east of I-55. According to ExxonMobil, the refinery employs about 600 people and was constructed in 1972.
Municipalities
The municipalities with their population within Will County and their total population as of the 2010 census are:
Cities
Aurora – 11,471 (total 197,899; mostly in DuPage, Kane, and Kendall counties)
Braidwood – 6,191
Crest Hill – 20,837
Joliet – 137,684 (total 147,433; partly in Kendall County)
Lockport – 24,839
Naperville – 47,320 (total 141,853; mostly in DuPage County)
Wilmington – 5,724
Villages
Beecher – 4,359
Bolingbrook – 71,795 (total 73,366; partly in DuPage County)
Braceville – 1 (total 793; mostly in Grundy County)
Channahon – 9,345 (total 12,560; partly in Grundy County)
Coal City – 2 (total 5,587; mostly in Grundy County)
Crete – 8,259
Diamond – 19 (total 2,527; mostly in Grundy County)
Elwood – 2,279
Frankfort – 17,782 (total 17,789; partly in Cook County)
Godley – 552 (total 601; partly in Grundy County)
Homer Glen – 24,220
Lemont – 3 (total 16,000; mostly in Cook & DuPage counties)
Manhattan – 10,084
Minooka – 1,803 (total 10,924; mostly in Grundy & Kendall counties)
Mokena – 18,740
Monee – 5,148
New Lenox – 24,394
Orland Park – 184 (total 56,767; mostly in Cook County)
Park Forest – 3,303 (total 21,975; mostly in Cook County)
Peotone – 4,142
Plainfield – 37,502 (total 39,581; partly in Kendall County)
Rockdale – 1,976
Romeoville – 39,680
Shorewood – 15,615
Steger – 5,467 (total 9,570; partly in Cook County)
Symerton – 87
Tinley Park – 7,467 (total 56,703; mostly in Cook County)
University Park – 6,856 (total 7,129; partly in Cook County)
Woodridge – 22 (total 32,971; mostly in DuPage County)
Census-designated places
Andres
Arbury Hills
Ballou
Bonnie Brae
Crystal Lawns – 1,830
Custer Park
Eagle Lake
Fairmont – 2,389
Frankfort Square – 8,968
Goodenow
Goodings Grove (former)
Ingalls Park – 3,460
Lakewood Shores – 665
Lockport Heights
Lorenzo
Marley
Plum Valley
Polk
Preston Heights – 2,898
Rest Haven
Ridgewood
Ritchie
Sunnyland
Willow Brook Estates – 1,346
Wilton
Wilton Center
Fort
Beggs
Townships
The 24 townships of Will County, with their populations as of the 2010 census, are:
Channahon – 10,322
Crete – 23,774
Custer – 1,430
DuPage – 87,793
Florence – 933
Frankfort – 57,055
Green Garden – 4,010
Homer – 39,059
Jackson – 4,100
Joliet – 87,398
Lockport – 60,010
Manhattan – 11,545
Monee – 15,669
New Lenox – 40,270
Peotone – 4,431
Plainfield – 80,318
Reed – 6,948
Troy – 45,991
Washington – 6,263
Wesley – 2,241
Wheatland – 81,472
Will – 1,821
Wilmington – 6,193
Wilton – 841
See also
References
Specific
General
External links
Will County Board
1836 establishments in Illinois
Chicago metropolitan area
Illinois counties
Populated places established in 1836