| County: | Fayette County |
| State: | Illinois |
| Ex Image: | Fayette County Courthouse, Vandalia.jpg |
| Founded: | 1821 |
| Seat Wl: | Vandalia |
| Largest City Wl: | Vandalia |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 725 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 716 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 8.9 |
| Area Percentage: | 1.2 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 21488 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Web: | www.fayettecountyillinois.org |
| District: | 15th |
| Named For: | Marquis de Lafayette |
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,488.[1] Its county seat is Vandalia,[2] the site of the Vandalia State House State Historic Site. Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area is located in the northwestern part of this county.
Fayette County was formed in 1821 out of Bond, Clark, and Crawford counties; according to one source, the county was formed on February 14, 1812.[3] It was named in honor of the Marquis de LaFayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War.[4] [5]
In 1823, Marion County, Illinois was carved out from the southernmost part of Fayette County; this was followed by the creation of Clay, Clinton and Shelby Counties from Fayette County areas. Early Tazewell County also received acreage from Fayette County. The year 1831 saw the creation of Effingham County and the establishment of the modern Fayette County boundaries.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (1.2%) is water.
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Vandalia 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 July 1980. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,140 people, 8,311 households, and 5,648 families living in the county.[6] The population density was . There were 9,302 housing units at an average density of .[7] The racial makeup of the county was 93.7% white, 4.4% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population.[6] In terms of ancestry, 27.5% were German, 10.5% were English, 9.4% were American, and 9.3% were Irish.[8]
Of the 8,311 households, 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.0% were non-families, and 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 39.9 years.[6]
The median income for a household in the county was $41,269 and the median income for a family was $51,216. Males had a median income of $38,257 versus $27,188 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,663. About 10.8% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.6% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.[9]
Fayette County is divided into twenty townships:
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Fayette County was rock-ribbed Democratic. It was not won by a Republican until Theodore Roosevelt’s landslide win of 1904. The county voted after that for the winning candidate in every election until 1940, when opposition to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s economic and war policies gave the county to Wendell Willkie. Since then only two Democratic presidential candidates have gained an absolute majority in the county – the more recent of these two, Jimmy Carter in 1976, doing so by a single vote.