Alexander County, Illinois

Alexander County population, land area and income

Alexander County had 4,594 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 235.4 square miles of land. It ranks 99th of 102 in Illinois by population and 97th by land area. That works out to 19.5 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and below the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in Illinois has 24,447 residents, so Alexander County has 19% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $45,550 is in the bottom quarter among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Alexander County's population changed since 2020

Alexander County lost 578 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 11.2%. That ranks 102nd of 102 in Illinois for growth. The median Illinois county changed by -1.7%, and the state as a whole by -0.7%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Alexander County recorded 187 births and 428 deaths, a natural change of -241. Net international migration added +0 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -401. The largest single component was domestic migration, which removed 401 people.

Where Alexander County is

The Census internal point of Alexander County is at 37.183700, -89.349500. It sits in UTM zone 16N. The map shades Illinois's 102 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Alexander County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Alexander County

One incorporated place of 1,000+ people has residents in Alexander County, 1,523 people together, or 33% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Alexander County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Cairo with 1,523.

Counties bordering Alexander County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Alexander County, including 4 across a state line. The most populous is Cape Girardeau County, MO, with 83,658 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• MO

  Cape Girardeau County, MO

  83,658 people

  23 mi NW

• MO

  Scott County, MO

  37,957 people

  15 mi SW

• Union County

  16,886 people

  22 mi NNE

• MO

  Mississippi County, MO

  11,750 people

  25 mi S

• KY

  Ballard County, KY

  7,626 people

  21 mi ESE

• Pulaski County

  4,879 people

  12 mi E

Distance to Springfield and the nearest big city

Springfield is 180.2 miles N of Alexander County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is St. Louis, MO (population 279,695), 111.5 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Cape Girardeau, MO (population 40,818), 14.4 miles away.

Alexander County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Alexander County is 17003: state code 17 for Illinois plus county code 003. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $45,550.