34,602 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.3% since 2020)
479 square miles of land · 72 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.
12 active community water systems list Effingham County in the area they serve, reporting 25,099 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| EFFINGHAM surface water · local government · IL0490250 | 12,252 served |
| LAKE SARA AREA WATER CO-OP, INC. buys surface water · private · IL0495150 | 4,071 served |
| ALTAMONT surface water · local government · IL0490050 | 2,610 served |
| TEUTOPOLIS groundwater · local government · IL0490450 | 2,018 served |
| HEARTVILLE PWD buys surface water · local government · IL0495200 | 1,125 served |
| DIETERICH buys groundwater · local government · IL0490150 | 900 served |
| EJ WATER-WATSON buys surface water · local government · IL0490500 | 754 served |
| BEECHER CITY buys groundwater · local government · IL0490100 | 500 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 51 people were held in Effingham County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 236 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 46.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Effingham County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.5 million — $35 million to run schools, about $15,130 per student, plus $5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.4 million local (mostly property tax), $16.3 million state, $4.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.7 million.
Spent $13.2 million — $11.8 million to run schools, about $10,949 per student, plus $922,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.1 million local (mostly property tax), $6.8 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.1 million.
Spent $9.8 million — $8.5 million to run schools, about $12,800 per student, plus $702,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $6 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.1 million.
Spent $10.3 million — $6.8 million to run schools, about $11,187 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $4.9 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.5 million.
Spent $5.6 million — $5 million to run schools, about $13,899 per student, plus $408,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $915,000 federal. Long-term debt: $849,000.
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 Effingham County about $20.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
254 bridges in Effingham County: 121 in good condition, 121 fair, and 12 poor (4.7%). “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.
| FAI-70 EB over FAS-711 · built 1961 | 11,950 vehicles a day |
| FAI-70 WB over FAS-711 · built 1961 | 11,850 vehicles a day |
| FAI-57 NB over GREEN CREEK · built 1964 | 9,450 vehicles a day |
| FAP-328 (US-45) over BIG SALT CREEK · built 1977 | 3,700 vehicles a day |
| TR-60 over MORRIS CREEK · built 1909 | 100 vehicles a day |
| TR-310 over DIETERICH CREEK · built 1909 | 100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $10.9 million of work in Effingham County in fiscal 2025, about $314 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 Effingham 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 Effingham County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Clay County (22 mi) · Fayette County (23 mi) · Jasper County (24 mi) · Cumberland County (24 mi) · Shelby County (26 mi) · Marion County (33 mi).