County Maps US

Ford County, Illinois

A county in Illinois, ranked 79 of 102 by population.

CountyFIPS 17053

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

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Population
13,216
-303 (-2.2%) since 2020
Land area
485.6
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
27.2
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Paxton
Seat of county government.
Established
1859
166 years ago
Largest city
Paxton city
Population 4,323.

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 Ford 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 Ford 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 563 by 800 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 Ford 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
Population13,21679th of 1022,213th of 3,144
Land area485.6 sq mi56th of 1022,137th of 3,144
Population density27.2 per sq mi77th of 1022,009th of 3,144
Median household income$62,43974th of 1021,852nd of 3,143

Full data for Ford County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population13,216Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202013,519Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?13,532Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area485.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.63 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area486.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?27.2 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$62,439American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$122,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age41.9American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households5,828American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units6,263American 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
-94
136 births, 230 deaths
Net migration
-16
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 6 areas bordering Ford 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
Iroquois CountyIllinois45 mi26,150
Livingston CountyIllinois38 mi35,057
Champaign CountyIllinois28 mi209,972
McLean CountyIllinois15 mi171,419
Kankakee CountyIllinois6.0 mi105,525
Vermilion CountyIllinois6.0 mi71,259

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.