Whiteside County, IL

Welcome to Whiteside County.

Whiteside County has a population of 55.6 thousand and a total area (land and water combined) of 696.4 square miles.

Total GDP for the county increased 32%, in the five years ending in 2022, to reach $2.7 billion.

Between 2000 and 2024 presidential elections, Whiteside County voted four out of six times for Democratic candidates and two times for Republicans.

Whiteside County comprises Sterling, IL micropolitan area.

The largest city in the county is Sterling.

🔵 Democrat 🔴 Republican

Election Year Candidates (Party)*	Votes (% Total)		Landslide Scale**
	🔵	🔴
2000 🔴George W. Bush 🔵Al Gore	51.88%	45.3%	+
2004 🔴George W. Bush 🔵John Kerry	51.07%	48.22%	+
2008 🔵Barack Obama 🔴John McCain	58.01%	40.45%	+
2012 🔵Barack Obama 🔴Mitt Romney	57.82%	40.28%	+
2016 🔴Donald Trump 🔵Hillary Clinton	43.14%	49.31%	+
2020 🔵Joe Biden 🔴Donald Trump	44.76%	53.07%	+
2024 🔴Donald Trump 🔵Kamala Harris
Notes: Presidential Tickets 2000 (R) George W. Bush & Dick Cheney; (D) Al Gore & Joe Lieberman 2004 (R) George W. Bush & Dick Cheney; (D)John Kerry & John Edwards 2008 (D) Barack Obama & Joe Biden; (R) John McCain & Sarah Palin 2012 (D) Barack Obama & Joe Biden; (R) Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan 2016 (R) Donald Trump & Mike Pence; (D) Hillary Clinton & Tim Kaine 2020 (D) Joe Biden & Kamala Harris; (R) Donald Trump & Mike Pence 2024 (R) Donald Trump & JD Vance; (D) Kamala Harris & Tim Waltz *Landslide Scale (county) + Victory margin was less than 20 percent ++ Victory margin was between 20 to 49 percentage points of more votes +++ Victory margin was more than half but below three quarters ++++ Victory margin was three quarters or more

Key Industry	As % County GDP	GDP Growth*
County GDP¹	100%	32%

Government Enterprises	19%	11%
Private Industries	81%	37%
Agriculture	5%	0%
Mining	<1%	42%
Utilities	<1%	0%
Construction	3%	39%
Manufacturing	20%	21%
– Durable	19%	20%
– Nondurable	1%	44%
Trade	14%	0%
– Wholesale	7%	0%
– Retail	7%	28%
Transportation	5%	29%
Information	1%	1%
Finance & Insurance	4%	3%
Real Estate	11%	26%
Professional & Business Services	5%	24%
Educational Services	1%	11%
Healthcare & Social Services	5%	87%
Arts, Recreation & Entertainment	<1%	93%
Accommodation & Food Services	2%	32%
Other Services²	2%	18%
Notes: *Growth rates are based on most recent five-year value available and are updated dynamically ^1. All industry total. ^2. Includes various repairs, maintenance, personal care, religious organizations, social and professional organizations etc.

	Total*	Vibrancy Indicator (1-100)**
🚙 Automobile Dealers	9	46
🪑 Furniture & Home Furnishings	7	35
📺 Electronics & Appliance	8	50
🛒 Grocery Stores	16	57
🍾 Beer, Wine & Liquor Stores	6	40
⚕️ Health & Personal Care	17	60
⛽ Gasoline Stations	23	58
👕 Clothing Stores	5	25
👠 Shoe Stores
🧳 Luggage, Leather Goods & Jewelry
🏸 Sporting Goods	4	25
📚 Book Stores & News Dealers
🏬 Department Stores	15	57
💐 Florists	4	33
🎁 Gift, Novelty & Souvenir Shops	4	27
🐕 Pet & Pet Supplies
🍺 Bars & Taverns	35	82
🍽️ Full-service restaurants	42	67
🍔 Limited-service restaurants	34	59
🏠 Offices of Real Estate Agents & Brokers	7	32
🛏️ Traveler Accommodation	6	31
Notes: * Total counts of establishments are places of business. ** Vibrancy score is based on comparisons of relevant establishments per square mile of land area among all counties and county equivalents in the United States; A score of 100 means the county is in the top one percentile.

Household Income by Distribution
	As % County’s Total Household Income	Average Household Income	Maximum Household Income
Top 5%¹	18%	$256,400	N/A
Top 20%	48%	$167,900	$190,700
Next highest 20%	24%	$85,000	$103,800
Middle 20%	16%	$55,000	$68,500
Second lowest 20%	9%	$31,500	$43,000
Bottom 20%	3%	$12,200	$21,300
Notes: ^1. Households with aggregate income above 95% of all households in the county

		% Total Households	Average Household Income*
Wages & Salaries		62%	$70,000
Self-Employment		11%	$42,700
Investment Income¹		20%	$18,400
Social Security		43%	$20,800
Supplemental Security		6%	$12,500
Public Assistance		2%	Below $10,000
Retirement		26%	$26,900
Notes: * Calculation based on households claim to have specific source of income; Households may have more than one source of income ¹Includes interest, dividends, and net rental income

	Under 25*	Age 25 to 49*	Age 50 to 64*	Age 65 & Older*
Below $25K	1%	4%	5%	7%
$25K – $49K	1%	5%	7%	10%
$50K – $99K	1%	9%	10%	10%
$100K – $199K	<1%	8%	12%	5%
$200K & more	<1%	1%	3%	1%
Notes: * Age of heads of households

Median Earnings by Worker Characteristics

Race/Ethnicity	Male	Female
Non-Hispanic White	$43,900	$28,600
African-American
Hispanic	$11,100
Asian

Level of Education	Male	Female
Below Highschool	$50,000	$16,700
Highschool & GED	$36,200	$18,300
Some College to Associate’s	$47,300	$29,300
College/Bachelor’s Degree	$74,800	$40,600
Graduate Degree	$72,100	$63,100

Occupation	Male	Female
White-Collar¹	$55,100	$47,100
STEM²	$49,000	$79,000
Gray-Collar³	$72,900
Pink-Collar⁴		Below $10,000
Sales⁵	$41,600	$18,600
Blue-Collar⁶	$44,400	$54,300
Notes: ^1. Management, business, science, and arts occupations ^2. Computer, engineering, and science occupations ^3. Protective service occupations including firefighters and law enforcement ^4. Personal care and service occupations ^5. Sales and sales related ^6.Production, transportation, and material moving occupations

Disaster Category	Natural Hazard Risk Rating	Annual Loss Per Capita
Avalanche
Coastal Flooding
Cold Waves	++	$
Drought	++	$
Earthquake	+	$
Hail	+
Heat Waves	++	$
Hurricane	+
Ice Storm	+	$
Landslide	+
Lightning	+	$
Riverine Flooding	++	$
Strong Wind	++	$
Tornado	++	$
Tsunami
Volcanic Activity
Wildfires	+
Winter Weather	++	$
Notes: Locations with insufficient data or not rated are left blank. +: Very low to Relatively low risk ratings ++: Relatively moderate +++: Relatively high ++++: Very high $: Expected per capita annual loss from the natural disaster is below $100 $$: $100-499 $$$: $500-999 $$$$: $1,000 and more

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