| County: | Ogle County |
| State: | Illinois |
| Founded: | January 16, 1836 |
| Seat Wl: | Oregon |
| Largest City Wl: | Rochelle |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 763 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 759 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 4.4 |
| Area Percentage: | 0.6 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 51788 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Est: | 51265 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Web: | www.oglecounty.org |
| Ex Image: | Oregon Il Ogle County Courthouse16.jpg |
| Ex Image Cap: | Ogle County Courthouse |
| District: | 16th |
Ogle County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 51,788.[1] Its county seat is Oregon,[2] and its largest city is Rochelle. Ogle County comprises Rochelle, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Rockford-Freeport-Rochelle, IL Combined Statistical Area.
Ogle County was formed in 1836 out of Jo Daviess and LaSalle counties, and named in honor of Captain Joseph Ogle, a veteran of the Revolutionary War who settled in Illinois in 1785. Ogle County government was organized in 1837; before that time it remained assigned to Jo Daviess County for legislative, taxation, and judicial matters.[3] In 1839, part of Ogle County was partitioned off to form Lee County.
Ogle County was a New England settlement. The founders of Oregon and Rochelle arrived from New England; they were "Yankees", descendants of English Puritans who had settled New England in the 1600s. They were part of a wave of farmers who migrated into the Northwest Territory in the early 1800s, their trek eased by completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. They found virgin forest and wild prairie, and quickly laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes. They brought a passion for education and strong abolitionism. They were members of the Congregationalist or Episcopalian Church. Culturally Ogle County, like much of northern Illinois would maintain values similar to those of New England.[4] [5]
According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (0.6%) is water.
In recent years, average temperatures in Oregon have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1999 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 53,497 people, 20,856 households, and 14,711 families residing in the county.[6] The population density was . There were 22,561 housing units at an average density of .[7] The racial makeup of the county was 93.2% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 3.8% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.9% of the population.[6] In terms of ancestry, 38.0% were German, 15.3% were Irish, 10.2% were English, 6.4% were American, 5.3% were Swedish, and 5.3% were Norwegian.[8]
Of the 20,856 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.5% were non-families, and 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.01. The median age was 40.7 years.[6]
The median income for a household in the county was $55,733 and the median income for a family was $64,927. Males had a median income of $49,996 versus $32,082 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,959. About 6.6% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.[9]
By 2000, 65% of the county labor force was employed as white-collar workers with an increase of 20 points in comparison with 1990 statistics. Manufacturing remains the leading employment sector absorbing more than 21.7% of the labor force though there was a decrease from 30,4% in 1995. However it is expected that services would replace manufacturing starting 2015 as the leading activity.[10]
Agriculture remains important in Ogle county, mainly corn and soybeans. In 2003, the Illinois Department of Agriculture ranked Ogle County 17th in the State for crop cash receipts, and 14th in the state for livestock cash receipts. As for livestock production, hogs and pigs are still leading even though productions decreased from 57,000 units in 1998 to 48,900 in 2002.[10]
The county also got some investment packages such as a $180 million truck-to-train cargo hub in 2006.[11] In August 2006, it was announced that a new ethanol production facility would receive a package of $5.5 million Opportunity Returns grant from the State.[12]
Along with its neighbor Lee County, Ogle County is one of the most consistently Republican counties in the nation when it comes to presidential elections. Except for the 1912 election when the GOP was divided between Progressive nominee Theodore Roosevelt and incumbent president William Howard Taft, Ogle County has voted Republican in every Presidential election since the Republican Party first participated in 1856. No Democratic candidate has ever won the county, which favored the Whig Party before the Republican Party was formed.[13]
Historically, Republicans have easily carried the county in statewide and national Democratic landslides. Franklin D. Roosevelt never garnered more than 39 percent of the county's vote in any of his four runs for president, and Barry Goldwater won over 60 percent here in 1964–almost identical to Lyndon Johnson's winning margin statewide. Illinois' own Barack Obama is the only Democrat to ever win at least 40 percent of the county's vote.
The county is part of Illinois's 16th congressional district. represented by Republican Darin LaHood.
The following public-use airports are located in the county:[14]
The Union Pacific line to Omaha (Chicago & North Western), BNSF line to Minneapolis (Burlington Route, later Burlington Northern), Canadian Pacific Kansas City line to Sabula (Milwaukee Road) all run through Ogle County.