City · Edwards County, Illinois

Albion, Illinois

Albion is a city in Edwards County, Illinois. It has 2,001 residents. Albion, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 27 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,439 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #585 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on math scores (high), drug overdose deaths (low) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on job growth (low), grocery stores (low) and dentists (low).

27Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,439 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #585 of 697 in IL
Population: 2,001 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 936.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 1700568

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety85#2,318/15,637
Economy4#15,019/15,631
Housing62#5,719/14,977
Health37#9,795/15,609
Healthcare16#13,069/15,650
Environment10#13,860/15,453
Education67#5,210/15,649
Infrastructure23#12,043/15,650
Community54#7,151/15,651
Leisure & amenities1#15,515/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Albion, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Edwards County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Math scores · high3.72
100/100Illinois 2.90United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEdwards County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Illinois 14.2 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataEdwards County value
Social associations · high20.1 /10k
98/100Illinois 9.8 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEdwards County value
Reading scores · high3.50
98/100Illinois 2.97United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEdwards County value
Public libraries · high3.3 /10k
97/100Illinois 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesEdwards County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.7×
97/100Illinois 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-39.6%
0/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataEdwards County value
Grocery stores · low0.0 /10k
0/100Illinois 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEdwards County value
Dentists · low17 /100k
3/100Illinois 86 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEdwards County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Illinois 4.8 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyEdwards County value
Comfortable days · low22.3%
4/100Illinois 24.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEdwards County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Illinois 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEdwards County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,113 (2015-2019) → 2,001 (2020-2024)
−5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
14.7% (2015-2019) → 32.8% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
11.5% (2015-2019) → 27.8% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.5% (2015-2019) → 85.0% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
48.4% (2015-2019) → 57.3% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$41,184 (2015-2019) → $56,500 (2020-2024)
+37%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Albion, Illinois improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+37%$41,184 → $56,500
Broadband+9.6 points75.5% → 85.0%

Declined2

Poverty+16 points11.5% → 27.8%
Child poverty+18 points14.7% → 32.8%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Albion, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.7 min2015-2019	18.0 min2020-2024	−0.7 min	Within the margin of error	57%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.6%2015-2019	12.4%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Broadband subscriptions	75.5%2015-2019	85.0%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Improved	58%
Child poverty rate	14.7%2015-2019	32.8%2020-2024	+18 points	Declined	5%
Effective property tax rate	1.56%2015-2019	1.67%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	6%
High school diploma or higher	88.0%2015-2019	93.0%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Home price to income ratio	1.7×2015-2019	1.7×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	81%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4412015-2019	0.4082020-2024	−0.033	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$41,1842015-2019	$56,5002020-2024	+37%	Improved	69%
Poverty rate	11.5%2015-2019	27.8%2020-2024	+16 points	Declined	1%
Rent as share of income	28.7%2015-2019	33.8%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Rent-burdened households	48.4%2015-2019	57.3%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Unemployment rate	7.0%2015-2019	10.2%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	9%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Albion, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Albion, Illinois in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Albion, Illinois itself moved −3.2 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,001 residents (±156)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

848 households (±73)

Albion, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k22%†186
$25k–50k23%†195
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

848 households (±73)

Albion, Illinois
Illinois share

Own69%586
Rent31%262

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

918 workers (±102)

Albion, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone73%672
Carpool13%†117
Public transit0.5%†5

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Edwards County, the county holding most of Albion's residents.

Edwards County has 132 employer establishments, 219 for every 10,000 residents (0.88× the US rate of 248; 0.86× Illinois's), with 1,886 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,425. The Census Bureau also counts 485 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 132; 485 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 219; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 1,886
Average annual pay: $47,425; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Edwards County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Religious organizations	12	19.9	3.59×More than typical	35	$19,343	—
Specialty trade contractors	11	18.3	1.18×About typical	47	$51,809	62
Automotive repair and maintenance	9	14.9	2.97×Too few to compare	36	$33,806	10
Restaurants and other eating places	6	10	0.54×Too few to compare	29	$10,828	—
Truck transportation	6	10	1.97×Too few to compare	16	$35,750	9
Ambulatory health care services	5	8.3	0.40×Too few to compare	28	$44,143	6
Services to buildings and dwellings	5	8.3	1.23×Too few to compare	13	$25,154	43
Building equipment contractors	4	6.6	1.10×Too few to compare	23	$47,043	11
Gasoline stations	4	6.6	2.05×Too few to compare	45	$28,800	—
Landscaping services	4	6.6	1.90×Too few to compare	12	$26,333	22
Other specialty trade contractors	4	6.6	2.65×Too few to compare	21	$58,714	26
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	4	6.6	2.01×Too few to compare	23	$47,043	6

Rank places for an industry Open Edwards County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 6,022 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Albion, Illinois: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

37.2FY2017
18.6FY2018
9.3FY2019
0FY2021

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Albion, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

Albion, Illinois's figures are part of those of Edwards County, IL ($50K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Albion is mostly in Edwards County.

See federal money in Edwards County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Albion, Illinois is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike BostR-IL-12 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Edwards County44100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Edwards County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1700568

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends