Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. This Central Illinois city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World," was founded in 1823 and is located in Central Illinois along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur. In 2000 its population was 81,500 The Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area (population 125,000), includes surrounding towns of Argenta, Bement, Bethany, Boody, Blue Mound, Cerro Gordo, Clinton, Dalton City, Elwin, Findlay, Forsyth, Harristown, Illiopolis, Kirksville, La Place, Long Creek, Macon, Maroa, Monticello, Moweaqua, Mount Auburn, Mount Zion, Niantic, Oakley, Oreana, Stonington, Sullivan, and Warrensburg.

The city is named after War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur, Jr.

Decatur has many tree-lined streets, older restored homes, historic residential districts, and restored downtown commercial areas. In the transition from a manufacturing to a service economy, Decatur has experienced some population shifting outward in the area as de-centralization has led much of the area's new homebuilding activity to the surrounding areas.

The city's symbol is the Transfer House, an early-twentieth-century Victorian structure located originally in the center of town where the city's mass transit lines met. The Transfer House was moved in 1963 to save it from destruction as roads were being built for the increasing automobile traffic.

Decatur was awarded the All-America City Award in 1960.

The city's motto is "Decatur, We Like it Here". The old motto was "The Pride of the Prairie". "The Soybean Capital of the World" is the un-official motto.

Geography

Decatur is located at 39°51′6″N, 88°56′39″W (39.851636, -88.944228). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 45.9 square miles (118.8 km²), of which, 41.6 square miles (107.6 km²) of it is land and 4.3 square miles (11.2 km²) of it (9.42%) is water. Lakes include Lake Decatur, formed in 1923 by the damming of the Sangamon River.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 81,860 people, 34,086 households, and 21,099 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,969.7 people per square mile (760.5/km²). There were 37,239 housing units at an average density of 896.0/sq mi (346.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.59% White, 19.47% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.19% of the population.

There were 34,086 households, out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from ages 18 to 24, 26.0% from ages 25 to 44, 22.5% from ages 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,111, and the median income for a family was $42,379. Males had a median income of $36,920 versus $22,359 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,009. About 12.1% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.1% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.