46,423 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.4% since 2020)
508 square miles of land · 91 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
10 active community water systems list Coles County in the area they serve, reporting 57,768 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MATTOON surface water · local government · IL0290250 | 19,500 served |
| CHARLESTON surface water · local government · IL0290100 | 17,286 served |
| CLEAR WATER SERVICE CORP groundwater · private · IL0295100 | 8,900 served |
| EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY buys surface water · state · IL0295500 | 5,500 served |
| EMBARRAS AREA WATER DISTRICT buys groundwater · private · IL0290020 | 3,750 served |
| OAKLAND buys groundwater · local government · IL0290300 | 739 served |
| COOKS MILLS WATER ASSOCIATION groundwater · private · IL0295200 | 720 served |
| ASHMORE groundwater · local government · IL0290050 | 637 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 62 people were held in Coles County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 204 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 114.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
3 school districts have their office in Coles County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $65.6 million — $50 million to run schools, about $15,923 per student, plus $11.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22.8 million local (mostly property tax), $34.5 million state, $9.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.2 million.
Spent $48 million — $36.3 million to run schools, about $13,841 per student, plus $9.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $20.2 million local (mostly property tax), $22 million state, $7 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.1 million.
Spent $5.2 million — $4.9 million to run schools, about $19,591 per student, plus $71,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2.6 million state, $568,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.8 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Coles County about $30.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
302 bridges in Coles County: 122 in good condition, 159 fair, and 21 poor (7.0%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I-57 (SB) over Central Grain RR & TR 86 · built 1965 | 9,900 vehicles a day |
| I-57 (NB) over Central Grain RR & TR 86 · built 1965 | 9,900 vehicles a day |
| I-57 (SB) over IL 16 (FAP 325) · built 1963 | 9,900 vehicles a day |
| FAU 7702(CH 7) over KICKAPOO CR & I-57 · built 1965 | 3,650 vehicles a day |
| CH 31(FAS 674) over LITTLE WABASH RIVER · built 1961 | 1,100 vehicles a day |
| FAS 1605(CH 11) over I-57 · built 1964 | 625 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $15.9 million of work in Coles County in fiscal 2025, about $340 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Illinois are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Coles County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Coles County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Cumberland County (17 mi) · Douglas County (17 mi) · Moultrie County (23 mi) · Clark County (26 mi) · Edgar County (28 mi) · Shelby County (32 mi).