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Home >> Demographics
Demographics
Visit the following links for PDF versions of the EDC's annual Demographic Profile:
Archives:
2006 Demographic Profile
2005 Demographic Profile
Cities Ranked & Rated said that Bloomington-Normal is a typical “prairie” community. Indeed, the community is characterized by its diverse and highly educated workforce, strong population growth over the past 10 years and low unemployment rate. If these are the characteristics of a prairie town, we qualify.
Overall, the economy in Bloomington-Normal is bolstered by its largest employer, State Farm Insurance. Employing approximately 14,000 people in McLean County, State Farm is also the largest insurance company in the United States.
Another large employer shows no signs of slowing down either. COUNTRY Insurance and Financial Services provides insurance to customers throughout the United States. Headquartered in Bloomington, the company employs over 2,200 workers in the Bloomington-Normal area. The company shares space with the Illinois Farm Bureau, one of the country’s largest and most prominent farm support organizations in the country, and GROWMARK, Inc., a large cooperative serving agricultural areas throughout the Midwest.
A long-time influence on the community from its very beginning has been Illinois State University (ISU). With well over 20,000 students each year, ISU has long served to influence life in Bloomington-Normal and McLean County. ISU is the community’s second-largest employer with over 3,000 employees. It is a four-year university and is the first public university in the state, having had its incorporation papers drawn up by Abraham Lincoln in 1856. In addition, the community is also served by Illinois Wesleyan University (2,137 students), Heartland Community College (4,775 credit students, 6,748 non-credit students) and Lincoln College (550 students).