County Maps US

Richland County, Illinois

A county in Illinois, ranked 69 of 102 by population.

CountyFIPS 17159

Within Illinois
Richland County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Olney, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
15,219
-589 (-3.7%) since 2020
Land area
360
square miles. A further 0.5% of the total area is water
Population density
42.3
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Olney
Seat of county government.
Established
1841
184 years ago
Largest city
Olney city
Population 8,347.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Richland County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Richland County, Illinois from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 747 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Richland County ranks

Position among the 102 counties of Illinois, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn IllinoisNationally
Population15,21969th of 1022,080th of 3,144
Land area360 sq mi83rd of 1022,654th of 3,144
Population density42.3 per sq mi55th of 1021,624th of 3,144
Median household income$62,45573rd of 1021,851st of 3,143

Full data for Richland County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population15,219Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202015,808Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?15,827Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area360 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area361.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?42.3 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$62,455American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$112,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households6,443American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units7,363American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-98
132 births, 230 deaths
Net migration
-52
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering Richland County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Clay CountyIllinois29 mi12,793
Lawrence CountyIllinois19 mi13,790
Jasper CountyIllinois17 mi9,032
Edwards CountyIllinois10 mi5,898
Wayne CountyIllinois7.7 mi15,882
Wabash CountyIllinois2.3 mi10,907
Crawford CountyIllinois2.0 mi18,648

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 102 counties of Illinois

Open the interactive Illinois county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.