Data / Rankings / Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over / Counties in Illinois

Counties in Illinois by share of adults with a bachelor's degree

DuPage County had the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree of 102 counties in 2021, at 50.7%. Gallatin County had the lowest, at 11%. The median was 19.8% and the figure for Illinois was 36.2%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest50.7DuPage County
Lowest11Gallatin County
Median19.8102 counties
Illinois36.2History

Top 40 counties, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

DuPage CountyDuPage County: 50.7 %50.7Lake CountyLake County: 46.3 %46.3McLean CountyMcLean County: 45.6 %45.6Champaign CountyChampaign County: 45.5 %45.5Cook CountyCook County: 40.8 %40.8Monroe CountyMonroe County: 37.1 %37.1Kane CountyKane County: 36 %36Will CountyWill County: 35.4 %35.4Kendall CountyKendall County: 35.3 %35.3McHenry CountyMcHenry County: 35.2 %35.2Woodford CountyWoodford County: 34.9 %34.9Jackson CountyJackson County: 34.2 %34.2Sangamon CountySangamon County: 34 %34DeKalb CountyDeKalb County: 33.2 %33.2Peoria CountyPeoria County: 32.9 %32.9McDonough CountyMcDonough County: 32.2 %32.2Piatt CountyPiatt County: 31.1 %31.1St. Clair CountySt. Clair County: 29.6 %29.6Madison CountyMadison County: 28.5 %28.5Tazewell CountyTazewell County: 27.7 %27.7Grundy CountyGrundy County: 26.6 %26.6Williamson CountyWilliamson County: 26.6 %26.6Coles CountyColes County: 25.7 %25.7Adams CountyAdams County: 25.7 %25.7Jo Daviess CountyJo Daviess County: 25.1 %25.1Boone CountyBoone County: 24.8 %24.8Hancock CountyHancock County: 24.5 %24.5Menard CountyMenard County: 24.4 %24.4Henry CountyHenry County: 23.9 %23.9Rock Island CountyRock Island County: 23.6 %23.6Macon CountyMacon County: 23.5 %23.5Clark CountyClark County: 23.4 %23.4Winnebago CountyWinnebago County: 23.3 %23.3Effingham CountyEffingham County: 23.1 %23.1Clinton CountyClinton County: 23.1 %23.1Union CountyUnion County: 22.7 %22.7Washington CountyWashington County: 22.6 %22.6Jersey CountyJersey County: 22.4 %22.4Warren CountyWarren County: 22.4 %22.4Scott CountyScott County: 22.1 %22.1
%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021 (%)
1DuPage County50.7
2Lake County46.3
3McLean County45.6
4Champaign County45.5
5Cook County40.8
6Monroe County37.1
7Kane County36
8Will County35.4
9Kendall County35.3
10McHenry County35.2
11Woodford County34.9
12Jackson County34.2
13Sangamon County34
14DeKalb County33.2
15Peoria County32.9
16McDonough County32.2
17Piatt County31.1
18St. Clair County29.6
19Madison County28.5
20Tazewell County27.7
21Grundy County26.6
22Williamson County26.6
23Coles County25.7
24Adams County25.7
25Jo Daviess County25.1
26Boone County24.8
27Hancock County24.5
28Menard County24.4
29Henry County23.9
30Rock Island County23.6
31Macon County23.5
32Clark County23.4
33Winnebago County23.3
34Effingham County23.1
35Clinton County23.1
36Union County22.7
37Washington County22.6
38Jersey County22.4
39Warren County22.4
40Scott County22.1
41Ford County21.7
42Ogle County21.6
43Stephenson County21.4
44Bond County21.2
45Morgan County21.1
46Logan County21.1
47De Witt County20.9
48Kankakee County20.8
49Bureau County20.4
50Putnam County20
51Carroll County19.9
52Moultrie County19.8
53Jasper County19.8
54Knox County19.7
55Stark County19.5
56Richland County19.4
57Cumberland County19.2
58Saline County19.2
59Douglas County19.1
60Whiteside County18.8
61Mercer County18.7
62Hamilton County18.7
63Lee County18.6
64Henderson County18.6
65LaSalle County18.5
65Wabash County18.5
67Macoupin County18.5
68Fulton County18.3
69Cass County18.3
70Edgar County18.2
71Christian County18.2
72Jefferson County18.2
73Marshall County18
74Montgomery County17.9
75Franklin County17.7
76Pike County17.6
77Shelby County17.4
78Schuyler County17.4
79Johnson County17.3
80Calhoun County17.3
81Crawford County17.3
82Livingston County16.8
83Mason County16.7
84Greene County16.5
85Vermilion County16.3
86White County16.2
87Marion County16.2
88Iroquois County15.9
89Wayne County15.2
90Clay County14.8
91Pulaski County14.7
92Pope County14.5
93Hardin County13.4
94Edwards County13.3
95Lawrence County13.3
96Randolph County13.2
97Massac County13.1
98Brown County13
99Fayette County12.6
100Alexander County12.3
101Perry County11.6
102Gallatin County11

Other periods

About this ranking

People aged 25 and over whose highest degree is a bachelor's, master's, professional school or doctorate degree, as a percentage of all people aged 25 and over. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.

Excludes associate degrees and college without a degree. Not comparable with EU tertiary attainment, which includes short-cycle tertiary education and usually covers ages 25 to 64. Calculated from counts in ACS table B15003, which are stored as inputs.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B15003: population 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher as a percentage of the population 25 years and over, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-b15003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

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Rank Counties in Illinois by share of adults with a bachelor's degree using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"bachelors_degree_share","level":"province","within":"Illinois","limit":10}
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Questions

Which county has the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?

DuPage County, with 50.7% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?

Gallatin County, with 11% in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B15003: population 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher as a percentage of the population 25 years and over, calculated with stored inputs. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over: other rankings

Counties in Illinois: more rankings