Major towns located in Williamson County include Marion, Herrin, Carterville, Johnston City and several smaller communities. Williamson County is the population hub of southern Illinois, with over 62,000 citizens living within its 423 square miles. Half of those residents are in the 20-59 age group so important to providing a viable work force for industrial and manufacturing growth.
Nearly 6 out of 10 county residents can be found in the four largest communities. Marion’s more than 17,000 people make it the largest town in the county. Herrin’s population is over 11,000, Carterville is over 5,000 citizens and Johnston City has 3600 residents. Nearly 26,000 live in about a dozen other smaller communities and the county’s rural areas.
Approximately half of the residents are in the labor force and the unemployment rate usually tracks the state average. Median family income is $40,692 and the per capita income of $24,101 has shown growth in recent years. Manufacturing jobs employ over 12% of the workers in the county, health care and social assistance jobs employ 15% and jobs in the financial industry employ 6%. Eighty per cent of the residents have a high school diploma and 17.2% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. There are 25,358 housing units, 75% of which are owner-occupied.
The four largest communities—Marion, Herrin, Carterville and Johnston City—contribute financially to support the Redco organization. The chart below summarizes census data for the communities of Williamson County. Information about the county as a whole appears in the second column while the composite data about the smaller communities and the rural areas of the county appears in the last column.