Illinois' 15th Congressional District
Located in East Central Illinois, the 15th Congressional District is comprised of the entire counties of Cumberland, Clark, Crawford, Edgar, Coles, Moultrie, Piatt, Douglas, Champaign, Vermilion, DeWitt, Iroquois, and Ford. We also share Livingston, Gallatin, White, Saline, Edwards, Wabash, Lawrence, Macon, and McLean counties with other congressional districts.
Spanning about 10,000 square miles, from the Indiana border through the fields of Central Illinois, the 15th District has a diverse basis for it's economy including manufacturing, finance and insurance. However, agriculture is the backbone of the district's economy. The district alone contains over 102,000 farms where corn and soybeans are the two main crops.
There are five major population regions located in the 15th District: Champaign-Urbana, City of Decatur, Mattoon-Charleston, City of Danville and the Bloomington-Normal area. Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal and Mattoon-Charleston areas are home to three of Illinois' leading public institutions: the University of Illinois, Illinois State University and Eastern Illinois University respectively.
653,647 people live and work in the 15th District where the average income per capita is $19,524 and unemployment, district wide, stands at approximately 6.5% (2000).