Beecher City, Illinois

Beecher City
Village
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Effingham
Coordinates
Area	0.90 sq mi (2 km2)
- land	0.90 sq mi (2 km2)
- water	0.00 sq mi (0 km2)
Population	493 (2000)
Density	544.9 / sq mi (210 / km2)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	62414
Area code	618
Location of Beecher City within Illinois
Wikimedia Commons: Beecher City, Illinois

Beecher City is a village in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 493 at the 2000 census. Beecher City was founded in 1881.

Geography

Beecher City is located at (39.187030, -88.785737).

According to the 2010 census, Beecher City has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.33 km²), all land.

The village of Beecher City, not to be confused with Beecher, Illinois, a large community around Chicago, is home to the Beecher City Unit 20 School District. The district has a Jr/Sr High School as well as a grade school serving grades K-6 located in the town, recently the neighboring town of Shumway housed a grade school for grades K-2, but it closed down at the start of the 2010-2011 school year. The town has a post office, bank, a village paper, and a popular gas station, known as "the station". This small village is also complete with a volunteer fire department, and several churches.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	70		—
1900	340		—
1910	355		4.4%
1920	328		−7.6%
1930	321		−2.1%
1940	506		57.6%
1950	437		−13.6%
1960	452		3.4%
1970	466		3.1%
1980	492		5.6%
1990	437		−11.2%
2000	493		12.8%
2010	463		−6.1%
Est. 2014	456		−1.5%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 493 people, 191 households, and 132 families residing in the village. The population density was 544.9 people per square mile (211.5/km²). There were 217 housing units at an average density of 239.8 per square mile (93.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.39% White, 0.41% Native American, and 0.20% from two or more races.

There were 191 households out of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the village the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $27,500, and the median income for a family was $33,583. Males had a median income of $25,156 versus $19,125 for females. The per capita income for the village was $12,779. About 8.0% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.0% of those under age 18 and 20.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Beecher City High School made the Chicago Sun-Times Top 100 High Schools in State of Illinois in 2009 and 2010.