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 2023, at 51.5%. Pulaski County had the lowest, at 11.9%. The median was 20.3% and the figure for Illinois was 37.2%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest51.5DuPage County
Lowest11.9Pulaski County
Median20.3102 counties
Illinois37.2History

Top 40 counties, 2023

CSVChart (SVG)

DuPage CountyDuPage County: 51.5 %51.5Lake CountyLake County: 47 %47McLean CountyMcLean County: 46.9 %46.9Champaign CountyChampaign County: 46.6 %46.6Cook CountyCook County: 42 %42Monroe CountyMonroe County: 38.2 %38.2Kane CountyKane County: 37.5 %37.5Will CountyWill County: 36.5 %36.5Kendall CountyKendall County: 36.4 %36.4Woodford CountyWoodford County: 36.1 %36.1McHenry CountyMcHenry County: 35.2 %35.2Sangamon CountySangamon County: 35.1 %35.1Jackson CountyJackson County: 35.1 %35.1Peoria CountyPeoria County: 34.5 %34.5DeKalb CountyDeKalb County: 32.7 %32.7Piatt CountyPiatt County: 31.9 %31.9McDonough CountyMcDonough County: 31.8 %31.8Madison CountyMadison County: 30.8 %30.8St. Clair CountySt. Clair County: 30.7 %30.7Jo Daviess CountyJo Daviess County: 28.8 %28.8Tazewell CountyTazewell County: 28.4 %28.4Williamson CountyWilliamson County: 27.5 %27.5Coles CountyColes County: 27.1 %27.1Adams CountyAdams County: 27 %27Menard CountyMenard County: 26.5 %26.5Effingham CountyEffingham County: 26 %26Winnebago CountyWinnebago County: 24.6 %24.6Putnam CountyPutnam County: 24.6 %24.6Clinton CountyClinton County: 24.5 %24.5Washington CountyWashington County: 24.4 %24.4Henry CountyHenry County: 24.3 %24.3Clark CountyClark County: 24.3 %24.3Grundy CountyGrundy County: 24.2 %24.2Hancock CountyHancock County: 24.2 %24.2Macon CountyMacon County: 24.1 %24.1Rock Island CountyRock Island County: 24.1 %24.1Ogle CountyOgle County: 24 %24Morgan CountyMorgan County: 23.3 %23.3Boone CountyBoone County: 23.2 %23.2Scott CountyScott County: 22.2 %22.2
%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2023 (%)Change on 2022
1DuPage County51.5+0.4 pts
2Lake County470 pts
3McLean County46.9+0.9 pts
4Champaign County46.6+0.9 pts
5Cook County42+0.7 pts
6Monroe County38.2+0.4 pts
7Kane County37.5+1.1 pts
8Will County36.5+0.4 pts
9Kendall County36.4+0.7 pts
10Woodford County36.1+0.7 pts
11McHenry County35.2-0.1 pts
12Sangamon County35.1+0.5 pts
13Jackson County35.1-0.2 pts
14Peoria County34.5+0.8 pts
15DeKalb County32.7-1.4 pts
16Piatt County31.9+1.1 pts
17McDonough County31.8+0.6 pts
18Madison County30.8+1.4 pts
19St. Clair County30.7+0.4 pts
20Jo Daviess County28.8+0.9 pts
21Tazewell County28.4+0.9 pts
22Williamson County27.5+0.4 pts
23Coles County27.1+0.2 pts
24Adams County270 pts
25Menard County26.5+0.6 pts
26Effingham County26+0.1 pts
27Winnebago County24.6+0.5 pts
28Putnam County24.6+1.1 pts
29Clinton County24.5+0.8 pts
30Washington County24.4+1.3 pts
31Henry County24.3-0.3 pts
32Clark County24.3-0.2 pts
33Grundy County24.2-1.5 pts
34Hancock County24.2-0.4 pts
35Macon County24.1+0.3 pts
36Rock Island County24.10 pts
37Ogle County24+0.6 pts
38Morgan County23.3+0.8 pts
39Boone County23.2-0.8 pts
40Scott County22.2+0.2 pts
41Warren County22+1 pts
42Stephenson County21.7+1.4 pts
43Bureau County21.4-0 pts
44De Witt County21.4-0.1 pts
45Bond County21.2+0.2 pts
46Union County20.9-0.8 pts
47Crawford County20.6+1.7 pts
48Jasper County20.6-0.8 pts
49Jersey County20.5-1.3 pts
50Kankakee County20.4+0.1 pts
51Knox County20.3-0.1 pts
52Saline County20.20 pts
53Douglas County20.2+0.3 pts
54Edgar County20.2+1.4 pts
55Whiteside County20.1+0.8 pts
56Cass County20+0.7 pts
57Logan County19.9-0.3 pts
58Ford County19.4-0.3 pts
59Lee County19.4+0.5 pts
60Stark County19.3+0.3 pts
61Henderson County19.2-1.5 pts
62Mercer County18.9+1.1 pts
62Schuyler County18.9+2 pts
64Richland County18.9-0 pts
65Pike County18.8+0.8 pts
66Johnson County18.8+2.2 pts
67Macoupin County18.8-0.5 pts
67Moultrie County18.8-2 pts
69LaSalle County18.8+0.3 pts
70Marshall County18.7+1.3 pts
71Wabash County18.7+0.2 pts
72Cumberland County18.6+0.9 pts
73Hamilton County18.5+1.3 pts
74Livingston County18.5-0.2 pts
75Calhoun County18.4-1.2 pts
75Jefferson County18.4+0.2 pts
77Montgomery County18.20 pts
78Carroll County18.2-0.5 pts
79Fulton County17.6-0.1 pts
80Shelby County17.6-0.7 pts
81Marion County17.3+0.6 pts
82Franklin County17.1-0.5 pts
83Mason County17.1-0.3 pts
84Pope County16.9+1.4 pts
85Iroquois County16.7-0.9 pts
86Fayette County16.6+1.8 pts
87Christian County16.6-0.6 pts
88Greene County16.3+0.9 pts
89Massac County16.3+1.5 pts
90Vermilion County16.2+0.6 pts
91Wayne County16.2+0.4 pts
92Clay County15.6+0.6 pts
93Gallatin County15.3+2.9 pts
94Brown County15.1+1.1 pts
95White County14.9-1.1 pts
96Lawrence County14.6+0.5 pts
97Randolph County14.2+0.5 pts
98Edwards County13.90 pts
99Alexander County12.6+2.2 pts
100Perry County12.3+1.3 pts
101Hardin County12.2+0.2 pts
102Pulaski County11.9-2.6 pts

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/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-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 51.5% in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Pulaski County, with 11.9% in 2023.

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