2015 State Report for County-Level Data: Employment

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the following individuals who have contributed to the success of this effort: Deb Brucker, Erin Dame, Adam Lavoie, Rachel Coleman, Kate Filanoski, Karen Volle, and Anna Brennan-Curry.

Funding for this publication is made possible by:

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC), funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), grant number 90RTGE0001-01-00; and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy and Measurement (EPM-RRTC), also funded by NIDILRR, grant number 90RT5037-03-00. The information developed by the StatsRRTC and EPM-RRTC does not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar, 75.620 (b)).

The StatsRRTC and EPM-RRTC are part of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. The Institute on Disability/UCED (IOD) was established in 1987 to provide a university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of people with disabilities and their families and is New Hampshire’s University Center for Excellence in Disability (UCED). Located within the University of New Hampshire, the IOD is a federally designated center authorized by the Developmental Disabilities Act. Through innovative and interdisciplinary research, academic, service, and dissemination initiatives, the IOD builds local, state, and national capacities to respond to the needs of individuals with disabilities and their families.

Institute on Disability / UCED

UNH.png

10 West Edge Drive, Suite 101 | Durham, NH 03284              603.862.4320 | relay: 711 | contact.iod@unh.edu | https://www.iod.unh.edu

Stay Connected:
facebook.png instragram.png linkedin.png Twitter.jpg youtube.png       

 

Copyright 2019. Institute on Disability. University of New Hampshire.      

 

 

 

2015 Illinois Report for County-Level Data: Employment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on

Disability Statistics and Demographics

A NIDILRR-Funded Center

NIDILIRR.jpg

Introduction

The State Reports for County-Level Data on Employment are designed to provide the users of disability statistics with the employed count and employment rate for civilians with disabilities, ages 18 to 64 years and living in the community, for any given state and county in the United States (U.S.). This report is intended to be an online complement to Section 2: Employment of the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium and Annual Disability Statistics Supplement, providing greater detail within each state. The State Reports for County-Level Data on Employment can be used to compare county-level statistics between counties in any given state or states. The following report provides county-level statistics for Illinois.

The proportion of the civilian non-institutionalized population with disabilities who are employed, sometimes called the employment rate or employment-to-population ratio, presented in the State Reports for County-Level Data is a useful tool for advocates, researchers, and policy-makers to plan and provide services and supports for the employment of people with disabilities. In this report, the employment of people with disabilities is presented as the number of employed civilians with disabilities, ages 18 to 64 years and living in the community, in a given state and county per total state and county populations, respectively. Counts and percentages (the employment rate) are provided in tables and maps.

The data for this report come from the American Community Survey 5-year data. The American Community Survey (ACS) is a national survey developed by the U.S. Census Bureau to provide information on a number of topics about social, economic, and demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. ACS 5-year data is collected over a longer period of time than 1-year data, providing larger sample sizes and increased reliability for less populated areas and small population subgroups. All of the statistics in this report use the ACS 5-year data which includes data from 2015, the year of the report, and data from the four previous years. In the ACS, people are identified as having a disability based on responses to a series of six questions asking about having difficulties with vision, hearing, ambulation, cognition, self-care, and independent living (see glossary for further details). 

 

 

 

In the ACS, people are also asked a series of questions designed to identify their employment status. Based on the answers, individuals were classified into one of five groups:

  • People who worked at any time during the reference week;
  • People on temporary layoff who were available for work;
  • People who did not work during the reference week but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent (excluding layoff);
  • People who did not work during the reference week, but who were looking for work during the last four weeks and were available for work during the reference week; and
  • People not in the labor force. 

In the ACS, people are identified as being employed if they responded as having worked during the past week. 

Specific to Illinois, the state chosen for this report, sentences providing interpretation and context for employment statistics are included on the following page. A short glossary of terms is also provided at the end of the report explaining the statistics that are illustrated in each sentence.

Additional Resources. The Annual Disability Statistics Compendium and its complement, the Annual Disability Statistics Supplement, are summaries of statistics about people with disabilities, available both in hard copy and online at https://www.disabilitycompendium.org

Help navigating any of the resources described here can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section at https://www.disabilitycompendium.org/faq. Assistance interpreting and locating additional statistics is available via our toll-free number, 866.538.9521, or by email, disability.statistics@unh.edu. For more information about our research projects, please visit https://www.researchondisability.org.

Suggested Citation. Boege, S.L., Lauer, E.A., & Houtenville, A.J., 2019. 2015 State Report for Illinois County-Level Data: Employment. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability.

Interpretation

The following statements are designed to help understand the 2015 county-level employment statistics from Illinois that are presented:

 

  • For people with disabilities:
    • The employment rate for people with disabilities in Illinois was 35.1%.
    • The range, also known as the difference between largest and smallest values, of employment rates for people with disabilities across Illinois counties was 35.3%.
      • The county with the greatest employment rate for people with disabilities was Piatt (52.9%).
      • The county with the smallest employment rate for people with disabilities was Pope (17.6%).
    • The median, also known as the middle-most, employment rate for people with disabilities across all counties in Illinois was 34.4%.

 

  • For people without disabilities:
    • The employment rate for people without disabilities in Illinois was 75.2%.
    • The range, also known as the difference between largest and smallest values, of employment rates for people without disabilities across Illinois counties was 22.8%.
      • The county with the greatest employment rate for people without disabilities was Clinton (84.7%).
      • The county with the smallest employment rate for people without disabilities was Pulaski (61.9%).
    • The median, also known as the middle-most, employment rate for people without disabilities across all counties in Illinois was 77.2%.
Employment of Civilians with and without Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Illinois, by County: 2015
County Disability No Disability   County Disability No Disability
Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2] Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2]
 Illinois   677,126 237,694 35.1 7,323,375 5,504,969 75.2   Fayette     1,907     820 43.0    10,193     7,557 74.1
   Adams      4,647   1,613 34.7    34,691    28,138 81.1    Ford       1,035     338 32.7     6,812     5,412 79.4
 Alexander      845     200 23.7     3,175     2,062 64.9  Franklin     4,048   1,078 26.6    19,022    13,383 70.4
   Bond       1,246     354 28.4     8,882     6,642 74.8   Fulton      2,169     755 34.8    18,129    13,890 76.6
   Boone      2,511     830 33.1    29,699    22,599 76.1  Gallatin       513     169 32.9     2,547     1,943 76.3
   Brown        231      62 26.8     3,092     2,567 83.0   Greene      1,030     326 31.7     6,850     5,191 75.8
  Bureau      1,980     671 33.9    17,863    14,260 79.8   Grundy      3,142   1,152 36.7    27,738    21,469 77.4
  Calhoun       313      94 30.0     2,514     1,939 77.1  Hamilton       582     168 28.9     4,183     3,197 76.4
  Carroll       977     370 37.9     7,589     5,909 77.9   Hancock       995     299 30.1     9,658     7,460 77.2
   Cass         784     324 41.3     7,107     5,488 77.2   Hardin        635     174 27.4     1,862     1,245 66.9
 Champaign    9,024   3,460 38.3   134,505    93,095 69.2  Henderson      481     202 42.0     3,569     2,879 80.7
 Christian    2,148     708 33.0    16,966    13,291 78.3    Henry      2,659     922 34.7    26,347    20,947 79.5
   Clark      1,094     370 33.8     8,292     6,557 79.1  Iroquois     1,724     621 36.0    14,872    11,650 78.3
   Clay       1,162     541 46.6     6,759     5,326 78.8   Jackson     4,179   1,403 33.6    36,920    23,044 62.4
  Clinton     1,736     673 38.8    20,361    17,246 84.7   Jasper        785     240 30.6     4,965     4,115 82.9
   Coles      3,508   1,390 39.6    31,847    22,408 70.4  Jefferson    3,371   1,170 34.7    18,419    14,332 77.8
   Cook     269,543  86,654 32.1 3,084,740 2,255,388 73.1   Jersey      1,359     492 36.2    12,401     9,614 77.5
 Crawford     1,602     580 36.2     9,388     7,257 77.3 Jo Daviess    1,019     369 36.2    11,674     9,345 80.0
Cumberland    1,028     409 39.8     5,423     4,242 78.2   Johnson       919     214 23.3     5,311     3,741 70.4
  De Witt     1,003     342 34.1     8,821     7,103 80.5    Kane      20,855   8,459 40.6   299,167   232,017 77.6
  DeKalb      4,999   1,914 38.3    64,851    47,297 72.9  Kankakee    10,511   4,545 43.2    56,993    42,148 74.0
  Douglas       958     282 29.4    10,528     8,395 79.7   Kendall     4,465   2,001 44.8    69,613    56,320 80.9
  DuPage     33,927  15,198 44.8   553,291   434,063 78.5    Knox       4,114   1,047 25.4    25,366    18,867 74.4
   Edgar      1,076     317 29.5     9,381     6,918 73.7   LaSalle     7,042   2,365 33.6    59,488    45,331 76.2
  Edwards       531     258 48.6     3,316     2,514 75.8    Lake      26,305  10,895 41.4   399,643   307,062 76.8
 Effingham    1,998     802 40.1    18,374    15,377 83.7  Lawrence     1,029     385 37.4     4,335     3,310 76.4
Employment of Civilians with and without Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Illinois, by County: 2015
County Disability No Disability   County Disability No Disability
Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2] Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2]
    Lee       1,844     662 35.9    17,897    13,736 76.8   Putnam        278     122 43.9     3,199     2,442 76.3
Livingston    2,192     682 31.1    17,674    13,849 78.4  Randolph     2,221     750 33.8    16,011    12,132 75.8
   Logan      1,471     513 34.9    12,113     9,493 78.4  Richland     1,218     349 28.7     8,082     6,343 78.5
   Macon      7,734   2,431 31.4    56,581    43,133 76.2 Rock Island   8,625   3,061 35.5    78,823    61,393 77.9
 Macoupin     3,730   1,290 34.6    24,186    18,495 76.5   Saline      2,581     759 29.4    11,887     8,462 71.2
  Madison    15,653   5,004 32.0   150,096   112,766 75.1  Sangamon    14,505   5,421 37.4   107,780    84,639 78.5
  Marion      3,574   1,219 34.1    19,018    14,711 77.4  Schuyler       560     125 22.3     3,925     2,726 69.5
 Marshall       582     230 39.5     6,448     4,920 76.3    Scott        269      69 25.7     2,772     2,144 77.3
   Mason        945     295 31.2     7,224     5,436 75.2   Shelby      1,136     394 34.7    11,688     8,838 75.6
  Massac      1,544     461 29.9     7,136     4,950 69.4  St. Clair   17,528   5,440 31.0   144,249   104,164 72.2
 McDonough    1,899     580 30.5    20,035    12,862 64.2    Stark        403     143 35.5     2,808     2,152 76.6
  McHenry    12,461   6,066 48.7   180,317   142,303 78.9 Stephenson    3,175   1,071 33.7    23,674    18,857 79.7
  McLean      8,039   3,680 45.8   107,200    83,102 77.5  Tazewell     6,540   2,171 33.2    73,909    58,705 79.4
  Menard        756     288 38.1     6,721     5,578 83.0    Union      1,627     403 24.8     8,816     6,453 73.2
  Mercer        751     228 30.4     8,495     6,749 79.4  Vermilion    6,329   1,622 25.6    39,128    28,814 73.6
  Monroe      1,654     718 43.4    18,932    15,483 81.8   Wabash        952     388 40.8     6,016     4,713 78.3
Montgomery    1,369     341 24.9    11,470     8,498 74.1   Warren        936     424 45.3     9,564     7,099 74.2
  Morgan      2,168     702 32.4    18,413    14,139 76.8 Washington      831     425 51.1     7,901     6,364 80.5
 Moultrie       693     303 43.7     7,729     6,085 78.7    Wayne      1,225     414 33.8     8,269     6,533 79.0
   Ogle       2,729     979 35.9    28,507    22,294 78.2    White      1,243     473 38.1     6,868     5,124 74.6
  Peoria     10,671   3,335 31.3   103,132    77,303 75.0  Whiteside    4,128   1,768 42.8    29,002    22,686 78.2
   Perry      1,609     409 25.4    10,224     7,392 72.3    Will      30,300  12,640 41.7   390,306   304,007 77.9
   Piatt        692     366 52.9     9,090     7,363 81.0 Williamson    5,484   1,483 27.0    34,168    25,935 75.9
   Pike       1,200     449 37.4     7,808     6,135 78.6  Winnebago   20,439   6,517 31.9   154,598   116,399 75.3
   Pope         482      85 17.6     1,949     1,228 63.0  Woodford     1,681     757 45.0    21,362    16,656 78.0
  Pulaski       726     164 22.6     2,643     1,636 61.9                                                          
Count of Employed Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Illinois, by County: 2015

Employment Rate for Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Illinois, by County: 2015

Discussion

There are a number of concepts and factors which complicate the interpretation of the estimates presented in this report. These concerns affect all statistics from population-based surveys. The estimates included in this document should be interpreted the following limitations in mind and generalized with caution. In each point, a link to the U.S. Census Bureau website describing the limitation or concept in greater detail in the ACS has been provided.

Additional links to resources for the ACS:

Glossary

American Community Survey (ACS) — The American Community Survey is a large, continuous demographic survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau that will provide accurate and up-to-date profiles of America’s communities every year. Annual and multiyear estimates of population and housing data are generated for small areas, including tracts and population subgroups. This information is collected by mailing questionnaires to a sample of addresses. See the U.S. Census Bureau website for additional details.

The Six Disability Questions in the American Community Survey:

  1. Is this person deaf or does he/she have serious difficulty hearing? (yes or no)
  2. Is this person blind or does he/she have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses? (yes or no)
  3. (If person 5 years old or over) Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions? (yes or no)
  4. (If person 5 years or old over) Does this person have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs? (yes or no)
  5. (If person 5 years old or over) Does this person have difficulty dressing or bathing? (yes or no)
  6. (If person 15 years old or over) Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping? (yes or no)

Average — The sum of all of the values in a sample divided by the number of values in the sample.

Civilian — A person not in active-duty military.

Employed – Individuals were asked a series of questions designed to identify their employment status. Based on the answers, individuals were classified into one of five groups: (1) people who worked at any time during the reference week; (2) people on temporary layoff who were available for work; (3) people who did not work during the reference week but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent (excluding layoff); (4) people who did not work during the reference week, but who were looking for work during the last four weeks and were available for work during the reference week; and (5) people not in the labor force. People who responded as having worked during the past week were considered "employed".

Employment Rate — The number of individuals that are employed as a percent of the civilian non-institutional population.

Living in the Community – A person lives in the community, if the person is not living in an institution, such as jail, prison, nursing home, and hospital. A college dormitory is not considered an institution.

Median — The middle-most value of a sample that separates the upper half of the values from the lower half of the values. 

Non-Institutionalized Population — Describes individuals who are residing in the community and who are not living in institutions such as jails, prisons, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.

Population — The total number of inhabitants in a defined geographic area including all races, classes, and groups.

Range — The difference between the largest and smallest values in a sample. In a sample, when the smallest value is subtracted from the largest value the resulting value is called the range. 

Sampling Variability — The variation of a statistic when estimated from repeated samples.

United States Census Bureau — An agency within the United States Federal Statistical System tasked with producing data about the American people and economy. Their primary task is to conduct the United States Census every ten years.

About the Center

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC)

Led by the University of New Hampshire, the StatsRRTC is a collaborative effort involving the following partners: American Association of People with Disabilities, Center for Essential Management Services, Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, Kessler Foundation, Mathematica Policy Research, and Public Health Institute.

The StatsRRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research under grant number 90RTGE00010100, from 2018–2023.

Employment Policy and Measurement Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (EPM-RRTC)

Led by the University of New Hampshire, the EPM-RRTC is a collaborative effort involving the following partners: Association of University Centers on Disability, Hunter College, Kessler Foundation, Mathematica Policy Research, and the University of Chicago.

The EPM-RRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research under grant number 90RT503701, from 2015–2020.

Contact Information
University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability
10 West Edge Drive, Suite 101
Durham, NH 03824
Toll-Free Telephone/TTY: 866-538-9521
E-mail: Disability.Statistics@unh.edu
https://www.researchondisability.org