Juvenile Justice System and Risk Factor Data - Illinois Criminal ...

Education
In 2000, the most recent education data available, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 6.5
million people over 25 years of age in Illinois had at least a high-school diploma. A total of 3.1
million males and 3.4 million females were high school graduates or beyond. Overall, Illinois
had a rate of 81,391 persons with at least a high school diploma for every 100,000 people 25
years of age or older. When comparing education data with estimated income data, the more high
school graduates there were in a county, the higher the estimated median household income was
for that county.
Unemployment
In fiscal year (FY) 2002, 417,700 people in the labor force were unemployed in Illinois. By
FY07, that number had decreased 18 percent to 341,000. The unemployment rate in FY07 was
5,097 for every 100,000 in the labor force, a 22 percent decrease from the FY02 rate. In FY07, 5
percent of the labor force was unemployed.
Income
The estimated median household income in Illinois in 2007 was $54,141. This was a 20 percent
increase from the 2002 median household income of $44,946 and a 31 percent increase from the
1997 median household income of $41,179. Median incomes in Illinois increased every year
from 1997 to 2007, with the exception of 2002, when the median income decreased 4 percent
from the previous year.
Poverty
The U.S. Census Bureau uses a set monetary income threshold for families that changes
according to family size to calculate the definition of poverty. This threshold does not change
geographically, but is adjusted for inflation. In calendar year 2007, a family of four with two
adults and two children, had a threshold of $21,027. A family of three with one adult and two
children had a threshold of $16,705. 11
In 2007, 524,318 youth ages 17 years old and younger were living in poverty in Illinois, a rate of
16,389 for every 100,000 people under the age of 18. This was a 6 percent increase from 2002,
but a 9 percent decrease from 1997. Poverty rates steadily declined from 1997 to 2000. Although
poverty rates began increasing in 2002, they still remained lower than in 1997. Figure 3 shows
the poverty rates from 1997 to 2007 in Illinois.
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