County Maps US

Coles County, Illinois

A county in Illinois, ranked 31 of 102 by population.

CountyFIPS 17029

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

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Population
46,607
-480 (-1.0%) since 2020
Land area
508.3
square miles. A further 0.4% of the total area is water
Population density
91.7
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Charleston
Seat of county government.
Established
1830
195 years ago
Largest city
Charleston city
Population 17,466.

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 Coles 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 Coles 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 651 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 Coles 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
Population46,60731st of 1021,058th of 3,144
Land area508.3 sq mi52nd of 1022,043rd of 3,144
Population density91.7 per sq mi24th of 102978th of 3,144
Median household income$56,47892nd of 1022,375th of 3,143

Full data for Coles County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population46,607Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202047,087Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?47,187Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area508.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area510.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?91.7 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$56,478American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$127,400American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age37.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households20,824American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units22,681American 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
-32
453 births, 485 deaths
Net migration
+67
More people moved in than moved out.

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

The 6 areas bordering Coles 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
Douglas CountyIllinois29 mi19,880
Cumberland CountyIllinois25 mi10,208
Edgar CountyIllinois14 mi16,323
Moultrie CountyIllinois14 mi14,371
Clark CountyIllinois9.9 mi15,114
Shelby CountyIllinois5.0 mi20,576

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.