15,362 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.8% since 2020)
360 square miles of land · 43 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.
7 active community water systems list Richland County in the area they serve, reporting 11,015 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| OLNEY surface water · local government · IL1590200 | 8,877 served |
| NOBLE buys surface water · local government · IL1590150 | 805 served |
| WEST LIBERTY-DUNDAS WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · IL1595050 | 563 served |
| PARKERSBURG buys surface water · local government · IL1590250 | 356 served |
| CLAREMONT groundwater · local government · IL1590100 | 190 served |
| CALHOUN groundwater · local government · IL1590050 | 172 served |
| ACORN ACRES MHP buys surface water · private · IL1590220 | 52 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 21 people were held in Richland County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 217 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 28.
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.
1 school district has its office in Richland County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $41.4 million — $30 million to run schools, about $13,179 per student, plus $7.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.3 million local (mostly property tax), $21.2 million state, $10.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $41.3 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 Richland County about $12.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
151 bridges in Richland County: 106 in good condition, 39 fair, and 6 poor (4.0%). “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.
| TR-211 over E FK BONPAS CREEK · built 1909 | 100 vehicles a day |
| TR-120 over CREEK · built 1909 | 50 vehicles a day |
| TR-266 over Paul Creek · built 1909 | 50 vehicles a day |
| TR-3 over HURRICANE CREEK · built 1909 | 35 vehicles a day |
| TR-261 over BONPAS CREEK · built 1909 | 25 vehicles a day |
| TR-19 over LONG BRANCH · built 1909 | 20 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3.7 million of work in Richland County in fiscal 2025, about $235 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 Richland 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 Richland County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Illinois: the state government and every county in Illinois.
Nearby counties: Lawrence County (19 mi) · Edwards County (20 mi) · Jasper County (20 mi) · Clay County (22 mi) · Wabash County (23 mi) · Crawford County (27 mi).