County Maps US

Whiteside County, Illinois

A county in Illinois, ranked 24 of 102 by population.

CountyFIPS 17195

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

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Population
54,121
-1,434 (-2.6%) since 2020
Land area
684.1
square miles. A further 1.8% of the total area is water
Population density
79.1
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Morrison
Seat of county government.
Established
1836
189 years ago
Largest city
Sterling city
Population 14,394.

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 Whiteside 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 Whiteside 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 623 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 Whiteside 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
Population54,12124th of 102961st of 3,144
Land area684.1 sq mi26th of 1021,371st of 3,144
Population density79.1 per sq mi29th of 1021,091st of 3,144
Median household income$67,50048th of 1021,382nd of 3,143

Full data for Whiteside County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population54,121Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202055,555Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?55,688Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area684.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area12.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area696.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?79.1 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$67,500American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$127,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age43.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households23,120American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units25,837American 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
-217
532 births, 749 deaths
Net migration
-85
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 Whiteside 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
Carroll CountyIllinois24 mi15,419
Lee CountyIllinois22 mi32,914
Rock Island CountyIllinois22 mi141,869
Henry CountyIllinois17 mi48,095
Clinton CountyIowa12 mi46,002
Bureau CountyIllinois12 mi32,510
Ogle CountyIllinois4.9 mi51,399

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.