Illinois households spend an average of $2,724 a year on electricity, natural gas and heating fuel. Against an average household income of $111,661, that works out to an energy burden of 2.4 percent. The statewide number hides a split that runs the length of the state.
In Alexander County, at the southern tip of Illinois, the average household spends 8.2 percent of its income on energy, four and a half times the rate in DuPage County. Among the state’s lowest-income households, those earning under 30 percent of their area’s median income, the burden climbs above 30 percent in 13 counties and reaches 49 percent in Alexander County. The U.S. Department of Energy’s LEAD Tool treats a household energy burden of 6 percent or greater as high.
This study ranks all 102 Illinois counties by household energy burden using the Department of Energy’s Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool, the federal government’s standard county-level measure. It reports the burden for all households, for the lowest-income tier, and for renters and owners separately.
Rank 1 is the highest burden. Household counts, incomes and energy costs are DOE LEAD 2022 estimates (2022 dollars). Energy burden is the average annual energy cost divided by the average household income. The “0-30% AMI” column shows the burden among households earning less than 30 percent of Area Median Income.
Rank | County | Metro East | Households | Avg. household income | Avg. annual energy cost | Energy burden (all households) | Energy burden, 0-30% AMI households | Low-income rank |
1 | Alexander County | 1,727 | $57,845 | $4,718 | 8.16% | 49.0% | 1 | |
2 | Clay County | 5,477 | $74,818 | $4,314 | 5.77% | 32.4% | 8 | |
3 | Pulaski County | 1,886 | $57,183 | $3,119 | 5.46% | 27.7% | 26 | |
4 | Wayne County | 6,848 | $68,651 | $3,400 | 4.95% | 26.0% | 37 | |
5 | Scott County | 1,952 | $83,456 | $4,046 | 4.85% | 33.1% | 5 | |
6 | Edgar County | 7,598 | $69,976 | $3,351 | 4.79% | 31.9% | 9 | |
7 | Pike County | 5,734 | $78,555 | $3,719 | 4.73% | 36.9% | 3 | |
8 | Pope County | 1,349 | $69,944 | $3,180 | 4.55% | 40.5% | 2 | |
9 | Greene County | 4,543 | $79,554 | $3,613 | 4.54% | 29.7% | 15 | |
10 | Massac County | 5,413 | $75,998 | $3,411 | 4.49% | 32.5% | 7 | |
11 | Cumberland County | 4,142 | $84,333 | $3,770 | 4.47% | 34.1% | 4 | |
12 | Shelby County | 8,762 | $79,194 | $3,534 | 4.46% | 33.0% | 6 | |
13 | Brown County | 2,066 | $73,811 | $3,263 | 4.42% | 18.3% | 91 | |
14 | White County | 5,676 | $73,498 | $3,230 | 4.40% | 27.8% | 24 | |
15 | Calhoun County | Yes | 1,205 | $106,340 | $4,598 | 4.32% | 25.7% | 40 |
16 | Hamilton County | 3,271 | $79,331 | $3,428 | 4.32% | 24.5% | 47 | |
17 | Richland County | 6,485 | $74,912 | $3,217 | 4.29% | 25.6% | 42 | |
18 | Hardin County | 1,480 | $67,038 | $2,875 | 4.29% | 18.7% | 87 | |
19 | Clark County | 6,447 | $80,958 | $3,441 | 4.25% | 23.5% | 58 | |
20 | Union County | 6,763 | $76,646 | $3,240 | 4.23% | 25.7% | 41 | |
21 | Carroll County | 6,317 | $79,971 | $3,352 | 4.19% | 30.9% | 10 | |
22 | Bureau County | 13,901 | $83,151 | $3,455 | 4.16% | 27.8% | 25 | |
23 | Stark County | 2,326 | $75,792 | $3,145 | 4.15% | 22.7% | 64 | |
24 | Schuyler County | 2,725 | $82,409 | $3,418 | 4.15% | 27.9% | 23 | |
25 | Fayette County | 7,678 | $73,239 | $3,021 | 4.12% | 26.9% | 30 | |
26 | Jo Daviess County | 10,074 | $87,501 | $3,609 | 4.12% | 28.5% | 20 | |
27 | Montgomery County | 11,259 | $76,498 | $3,134 | 4.10% | 27.6% | 27 | |
28 | McDonough County | 11,600 | $69,389 | $2,836 | 4.09% | 20.7% | 76 | |
29 | Knox County | 20,734 | $68,695 | $2,791 | 4.06% | 23.5% | 59 | |
30 | Hancock County | 7,510 | $78,828 | $3,190 | 4.05% | 26.0% | 36 | |
31 | Ford County | 5,689 | $75,035 | $3,031 | 4.04% | 20.4% | 79 | |
32 | De Witt County | 6,644 | $78,627 | $3,165 | 4.03% | 26.7% | 32 | |
33 | Christian County | 13,473 | $74,171 | $2,967 | 4.00% | 30.5% | 12 | |
34 | Marshall County | 4,967 | $79,245 | $3,168 | 4.00% | 22.6% | 65 | |
35 | Edwards County | 2,625 | $73,752 | $2,947 | 4.00% | 25.9% | 38 | |
36 | Mason County | 5,788 | $79,188 | $3,160 | 3.99% | 25.5% | 43 | |
37 | Henderson County | 2,745 | $81,677 | $3,259 | 3.99% | 20.6% | 77 | |
38 | Jefferson County | 14,778 | $76,630 | $3,044 | 3.97% | 28.9% | 19 | |
39 | Marion County | 15,236 | $73,445 | $2,917 | 3.97% | 26.2% | 33 | |
40 | Jasper County | 3,710 | $84,807 | $3,360 | 3.96% | 30.6% | 11 | |
41 | Moultrie County | 5,824 | $86,651 | $3,414 | 3.94% | 29.5% | 16 | |
42 | Iroquois County | 11,217 | $80,262 | $3,156 | 3.93% | 25.8% | 39 | |
43 | Stephenson County | 19,337 | $76,705 | $3,016 | 3.93% | 23.7% | 56 | |
44 | Whiteside County | 23,164 | $81,348 | $3,192 | 3.92% | 26.8% | 31 | |
45 | Gallatin County | 2,155 | $70,845 | $2,780 | 3.92% | 26.0% | 35 | |
46 | Cass County | 5,004 | $78,349 | $3,073 | 3.92% | 24.2% | 51 | |
47 | Livingston County | 14,665 | $86,101 | $3,356 | 3.90% | 25.5% | 44 | |
48 | Perry County | 8,147 | $71,568 | $2,770 | 3.87% | 21.6% | 69 | |
49 | Franklin County | 16,095 | $67,991 | $2,626 | 3.86% | 23.7% | 57 | |
50 | Douglas County | 7,640 | $84,253 | $3,246 | 3.85% | 29.1% | 17 | |
51 | Fulton County | 13,955 | $77,566 | $2,970 | 3.83% | 25.5% | 45 | |
52 | Warren County | 6,836 | $82,415 | $3,143 | 3.81% | 24.4% | 49 | |
53 | Wabash County | 4,778 | $78,670 | $2,982 | 3.79% | 21.8% | 68 | |
54 | Macoupin County | Yes | 17,567 | $84,863 | $3,206 | 3.78% | 30.1% | 13 |
55 | Bond County | Yes | 6,220 | $77,612 | $2,930 | 3.77% | 23.3% | 60 |
56 | Morgan County | 13,293 | $79,437 | $2,997 | 3.77% | 23.7% | 55 | |
57 | Lee County | 13,669 | $84,185 | $3,095 | 3.68% | 20.3% | 80 | |
58 | Crawford County | 7,481 | $82,209 | $2,999 | 3.65% | 28.2% | 21 | |
59 | Logan County | 11,101 | $82,472 | $3,006 | 3.64% | 23.8% | 54 | |
60 | Randolph County | 11,650 | $80,110 | $2,903 | 3.62% | 27.0% | 28 | |
61 | Lawrence County | 5,426 | $82,127 | $2,954 | 3.60% | 24.7% | 46 | |
62 | Vermilion County | 29,904 | $71,026 | $2,542 | 3.58% | 20.4% | 78 | |
63 | Coles County | 20,385 | $72,125 | $2,544 | 3.53% | 20.7% | 75 | |
64 | Putnam County | 2,400 | $90,292 | $3,183 | 3.52% | 24.2% | 52 | |
65 | Saline County | 10,165 | $75,324 | $2,654 | 3.52% | 20.8% | 74 | |
66 | Washington County | 5,747 | $91,377 | $3,211 | 3.51% | 28.1% | 22 | |
67 | Johnson County | 4,106 | $77,478 | $2,722 | 3.51% | 23.3% | 61 | |
68 | Adams County | 27,490 | $85,034 | $2,951 | 3.47% | 24.3% | 50 | |
69 | Jackson County | 23,133 | $66,362 | $2,254 | 3.40% | 18.2% | 92 | |
70 | Kankakee County | 40,591 | $87,292 | $2,949 | 3.38% | 24.5% | 48 | |
71 | Macon County | 43,362 | $82,595 | $2,783 | 3.37% | 29.8% | 14 | |
72 | Menard County | 5,085 | $98,789 | $3,322 | 3.36% | 21.0% | 72 | |
73 | Piatt County | 6,783 | $99,117 | $3,279 | 3.31% | 27.0% | 29 | |
74 | Jersey County | Yes | 7,735 | $98,624 | $3,263 | 3.31% | 23.2% | 62 |
75 | Mercer County | 6,435 | $87,724 | $2,843 | 3.24% | 17.7% | 94 | |
76 | LaSalle County | 45,130 | $86,594 | $2,801 | 3.24% | 26.1% | 34 | |
77 | Clinton County | Yes | 14,493 | $98,264 | $3,141 | 3.20% | 19.9% | 82 |
78 | Winnebago County | 115,214 | $84,433 | $2,681 | 3.18% | 23.0% | 63 | |
79 | St. Clair County | Yes | 100,701 | $92,649 | $2,920 | 3.15% | 21.8% | 67 |
80 | Ogle County | 20,807 | $92,458 | $2,875 | 3.11% | 18.3% | 90 | |
81 | Henry County | 20,187 | $88,950 | $2,703 | 3.04% | 19.2% | 84 | |
82 | Peoria County | 76,414 | $90,536 | $2,728 | 3.01% | 22.5% | 66 | |
83 | Madison County | Yes | 108,914 | $96,521 | $2,884 | 2.99% | 19.5% | 83 |
84 | Effingham County | 14,098 | $91,532 | $2,721 | 2.97% | 18.3% | 89 | |
85 | Williamson County | 28,521 | $81,110 | $2,366 | 2.92% | 21.4% | 70 | |
86 | Woodford County | 14,725 | $105,203 | $3,068 | 2.92% | 29.0% | 18 | |
87 | Tazewell County | 53,676 | $93,843 | $2,708 | 2.89% | 20.2% | 81 | |
88 | DeKalb County | 39,139 | $90,018 | $2,590 | 2.88% | 15.3% | 100 | |
89 | Boone County | 19,024 | $102,689 | $2,932 | 2.86% | 24.0% | 53 | |
90 | Champaign County | 82,467 | $88,604 | $2,381 | 2.69% | 21.3% | 71 | |
91 | Grundy County | 20,376 | $109,580 | $2,885 | 2.63% | 14.5% | 101 | |
92 | Monroe County | Yes | 13,565 | $122,245 | $3,137 | 2.57% | 21.0% | 73 |
93 | Sangamon County | 84,017 | $96,831 | $2,460 | 2.54% | 18.4% | 88 | |
94 | Rock Island County | 61,014 | $81,843 | $2,014 | 2.46% | 13.6% | 102 | |
95 | Will County | 239,064 | $130,236 | $3,043 | 2.34% | 18.9% | 85 | |
96 | Kendall County | 43,878 | $126,082 | $2,866 | 2.27% | 16.5% | 96 | |
97 | McHenry County | 115,467 | $125,705 | $2,854 | 2.27% | 18.7% | 86 | |
98 | Kane County | 182,319 | $129,848 | $2,875 | 2.21% | 16.4% | 98 | |
99 | Cook County | 2,066,248 | $116,079 | $2,564 | 2.21% | 17.7% | 93 | |
100 | McLean County | 68,491 | $101,154 | $2,168 | 2.14% | 16.7% | 95 | |
101 | Lake County | 254,794 | $152,844 | $2,931 | 1.92% | 16.4% | 97 | |
102 | DuPage County | 348,870 | $150,556 | $2,723 | 1.81% | 16.2% | 99 |
Six of the ten highest-burden counties are in the state’s southern third: Alexander (8.16 percent), Clay (5.77 percent), Pulaski (5.46 percent), Wayne (4.95 percent), Pope (4.55 percent) and Massac (4.49 percent). The other four are small rural counties in west-central and east-central Illinois: Scott, Edgar, Pike and Greene. The pattern is driven by income more than by bills. Average incomes in the southern six run $57,000 to $76,000 against a state average of $111,661, while their energy costs sit at or above the state average of $2,724. Scott County, at number 5, has the fourth-highest energy cost in the state ($4,046).
Callout: 94 of 102 Illinois counties have an energy burden above the state average of 2.44 percent. The eight below it are seven Chicago-area counties (DuPage, Lake, Cook, Kane, McHenry, Kendall, Will) plus McLean County.
Illinois has about 679,000 households earning less than 30 percent of Area Median Income, 13.7 percent of all households. Their average income is $11,957 and their average energy bill is $2,258, an 18.9 percent burden statewide. In 13 counties that figure passes 30 percent. Alexander County (49.0 percent), Pope County (40.5 percent) and Pike County (36.9 percent) lead the list. Even in the best-placed county for this group, Rock Island, the lowest-income households spend 13.6 percent of income on energy.
Callout: A household in the 0-30% AMI tier in Alexander County pays $4,718 a year for energy on an average income of $9,623. Nearly half of every dollar goes to the utility.
In 101 of 102 counties, renter households have a higher energy burden than owner households. The widest gaps are in Alexander County (13.1 percent for renters, 7.6 percent for owners), Massac County (7.9 percent vs 4.2 percent), Wayne County (7.7 percent vs 4.6 percent) and Pope County (7.4 percent vs 4.3 percent). Brown County is the only county where owners are more burdened than renters, and the difference there is under one percentage point.
Callout: Renters in Massac County spend nearly double the share of income on energy that homeowners do.
The five counties with the highest average annual energy cost are Alexander ($4,718), Calhoun ($4,598), Clay ($4,314), Scott ($4,046) and Cumberland ($3,770). All five have fewer than 6,000 households. Cook County’s average bill is $2,564; DuPage County’s is $2,723. Rural counties combine older, larger single-family housing with higher shares of propane and electric heat, both of which cost more per unit of warmth than utility gas.
Callout: Illinois’s five most expensive counties for home energy have a combined 14,500 households. Cook County alone has 2.07 million.
All eight Illinois counties in the St. Louis metropolitan area have an energy burden above the 2.44 percent state average. Calhoun County ranks 15th in Illinois at 4.32 percent and has the state’s second-highest average energy bill at $4,598. Macoupin County (3.78 percent, rank 54) and Bond County (3.77 percent, rank 55) follow. Madison County, the region’s most populous, ranks 83rd at 2.99 percent, and St. Clair County ranks 79th at 3.15 percent. Among the lowest-income households, Macoupin County’s 30.1 percent burden is the 13th highest in the state.
Callout: Metro East energy burden, all households: Calhoun 4.32%, Macoupin 3.78%, Bond 3.77%, Jersey 3.31%, Clinton 3.20%, St. Clair 3.15%, Madison 2.99%, Monroe 2.57%.
Sorted by renter burden. Rank 1 is the highest burden.
County | Renter energy burden | Renter rank | Owner energy burden | Owner rank |
Alexander County | 13.06% | 1 | 7.59% | 1 |
Massac County | 7.92% | 2 | 4.15% | 15 |
Wayne County | 7.74% | 3 | 4.64% | 5 |
Clay County | 7.67% | 4 | 5.49% | 2 |
Pulaski County | 7.62% | 5 | 5.04% | 3 |
Pope County | 7.38% | 6 | 4.32% | 11 |
Jo Daviess County | 6.81% | 7 | 3.89% | 31 |
Pike County | 6.76% | 8 | 4.50% | 8 |
Henderson County | 6.33% | 9 | 3.82% | 34 |
Hardin County | 6.26% | 10 | 4.09% | 18 |
Scott County | 6.21% | 11 | 4.70% | 4 |
McDonough County | 6.20% | 12 | 3.62% | 50 |
Union County | 6.08% | 13 | 4.00% | 21 |
Hamilton County | 6.03% | 14 | 4.09% | 17 |
Richland County | 6.01% | 15 | 3.99% | 22 |
White County | 5.85% | 16 | 4.16% | 14 |
Greene County | 5.81% | 17 | 4.34% | 10 |
Stephenson County | 5.79% | 18 | 3.59% | 54 |
Whiteside County | 5.79% | 19 | 3.65% | 47 |
Edwards County | 5.67% | 20 | 3.79% | 39 |
Gallatin County | 5.66% | 21 | 3.68% | 44 |
Ford County | 5.66% | 22 | 3.82% | 35 |
Bureau County | 5.65% | 23 | 3.91% | 28 |
Johnson County | 5.58% | 24 | 3.37% | 62 |
Fayette County | 5.58% | 25 | 3.95% | 24 |
Iroquois County | 5.54% | 26 | 3.72% | 43 |
Knox County | 5.43% | 27 | 3.74% | 42 |
Livingston County | 5.43% | 28 | 3.59% | 53 |
Hancock County | 5.43% | 29 | 3.90% | 30 |
Bond County | 5.42% | 30 | 3.51% | 59 |
Lee County | 5.41% | 31 | 3.36% | 63 |
Shelby County | 5.41% | 32 | 4.31% | 12 |
Marshall County | 5.39% | 33 | 3.80% | 37 |
Clark County | 5.38% | 34 | 4.12% | 16 |
Edgar County | 5.38% | 35 | 4.63% | 6 |
Wabash County | 5.37% | 36 | 3.58% | 55 |
Douglas County | 5.36% | 37 | 3.65% | 46 |
Putnam County | 5.34% | 38 | 3.32% | 66 |
Menard County | 5.34% | 39 | 3.15% | 71 |
Mercer County | 5.33% | 40 | 3.01% | 75 |
Fulton County | 5.24% | 41 | 3.62% | 51 |
Cumberland County | 5.16% | 42 | 4.37% | 9 |
Montgomery County | 5.15% | 43 | 3.92% | 25 |
Christian County | 5.13% | 44 | 3.82% | 33 |
Macon County | 5.08% | 45 | 3.06% | 74 |
Stark County | 5.07% | 46 | 3.96% | 23 |
Carroll County | 5.01% | 47 | 4.06% | 19 |
Franklin County | 5.00% | 48 | 3.64% | 48 |
Saline County | 4.99% | 49 | 3.30% | 67 |
Schuyler County | 4.98% | 50 | 4.04% | 20 |
Kankakee County | 4.98% | 51 | 3.07% | 73 |
LaSalle County | 4.93% | 52 | 2.98% | 77 |
Henry County | 4.92% | 53 | 2.83% | 81 |
Macoupin County | 4.84% | 54 | 3.61% | 52 |
Calhoun County | 4.83% | 55 | 4.29% | 13 |
Cass County | 4.80% | 56 | 3.76% | 40 |
Moultrie County | 4.79% | 57 | 3.79% | 38 |
Winnebago County | 4.78% | 58 | 2.81% | 82 |
Marion County | 4.75% | 59 | 3.80% | 36 |
Vermilion County | 4.74% | 60 | 3.34% | 64 |
Warren County | 4.63% | 61 | 3.67% | 45 |
Washington County | 4.61% | 62 | 3.39% | 61 |
Crawford County | 4.59% | 63 | 3.53% | 57 |
Adams County | 4.49% | 64 | 3.26% | 68 |
Jefferson County | 4.45% | 65 | 3.84% | 32 |
De Witt County | 4.44% | 66 | 3.92% | 26 |
Mason County | 4.44% | 67 | 3.91% | 29 |
Morgan County | 4.44% | 68 | 3.62% | 49 |
Randolph County | 4.35% | 69 | 3.49% | 60 |
Perry County | 4.33% | 70 | 3.75% | 41 |
Jersey County | 4.31% | 71 | 3.19% | 70 |
Jackson County | 4.28% | 72 | 2.98% | 76 |
Jasper County | 4.27% | 73 | 3.91% | 27 |
Madison County | 4.25% | 74 | 2.78% | 84 |
Ogle County | 4.10% | 75 | 2.95% | 79 |
Sangamon County | 4.10% | 76 | 2.29% | 93 |
Woodford County | 4.09% | 77 | 2.79% | 83 |
DeKalb County | 4.04% | 78 | 2.60% | 89 |
Peoria County | 4.04% | 79 | 2.75% | 88 |
Coles County | 4.01% | 80 | 3.33% | 65 |
Effingham County | 4.01% | 81 | 2.84% | 80 |
St. Clair County | 4.00% | 82 | 2.97% | 78 |
Boone County | 3.98% | 83 | 2.76% | 85 |
Logan County | 3.97% | 84 | 3.52% | 58 |
Piatt County | 3.95% | 85 | 3.23% | 69 |
Brown County | 3.81% | 86 | 4.52% | 7 |
Tazewell County | 3.80% | 87 | 2.75% | 87 |
Lawrence County | 3.69% | 88 | 3.56% | 56 |
Williamson County | 3.66% | 89 | 2.76% | 86 |
Will County | 3.45% | 90 | 2.24% | 94 |
Clinton County | 3.44% | 91 | 3.15% | 72 |
Rock Island County | 3.39% | 92 | 2.23% | 95 |
Monroe County | 3.29% | 93 | 2.50% | 91 |
Champaign County | 3.25% | 94 | 2.47% | 92 |
Grundy County | 3.18% | 95 | 2.54% | 90 |
McHenry County | 3.17% | 96 | 2.18% | 97 |
Kane County | 3.10% | 97 | 2.09% | 98 |
Lake County | 2.89% | 98 | 1.78% | 101 |
Kendall County | 2.85% | 99 | 2.22% | 96 |
McLean County | 2.83% | 100 | 1.99% | 100 |
Cook County | 2.54% | 101 | 2.07% | 99 |
DuPage County | 2.05% | 102 | 1.75% | 102 |
“The counties at the top of this list are paying more in dollars, not just in percentage terms. A house in Calhoun or Clay County is often older, larger and heated with propane or electric resistance, and every one of those things adds to the bill. The single most effective thing a household in that position can do is seal and insulate the attic and get the furnace tuned before the first cold snap, because a furnace running at 70 percent efficiency wastes nearly a third of every dollar spent on fuel.”
Michael Romshek, B & W Heating & Cooling, Edwardsville, Illinois
“For a family earning $12,000 a year, an energy burden of 30 or 40 percent is not an abstraction. It is the difference between heating the whole house and heating one room. Illinois LIHEAP opens each fall and the state’s weatherization assistance program is free for households under 200 percent of the poverty line. Anyone in the top half of this table who has not applied should.”
Michael Romshek, B & W Heating & Cooling
This study measures household energy burden, the share of gross annual household income spent on home energy (electricity, natural gas and other fuels such as propane, fuel oil and wood), for each of the 102 counties in Illinois.
Source 1: U.S. Department of Energy, Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool, 2022 Update. Published by the DOE Office of State and Community Energy Programs and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory through the Open Energy Data Initiative, August 2024. Illinois county file (Area Median Income cohorts). Modeled from the 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample and calibrated to 2022 utility data reported to the Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861 for electricity, Form EIA-176 for natural gas). All dollar values are 2022 dollars. Fields used: county FIPS, Area Median Income tier, tenure, household count, and the summed household income, electricity, gas and other-fuel expenditure columns. https://data.openei.org/submissions/6219
Source 2: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates. Tables B19013 (median household income), B25003 (tenure) and B01003 (population), Illinois counties, from the ACS Summary File. Used as context columns only; not an input to the energy burden calculation. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/
Calculation. For each county, and separately for each county’s 0-30% AMI households, owner households and renter households, we summed LEAD’s cohort-level totals and computed: average income = total household income / households reporting income; average energy cost = average electricity expenditure + average gas expenditure + average other-fuel expenditure, each computed as the cohort total divided by households reporting that expenditure; energy burden = average energy cost / average income. This is the definition used by the Department of Energy in the LEAD Tool (“average annual housing energy costs divided by the average annual household income”). Counties were ranked from highest to lowest burden; ties share the lower rank number.
Definitions. Area Median Income (AMI) is HUD’s median family income for the county’s metropolitan area or non-metropolitan county. The 0-30% AMI tier corresponds to HUD’s “extremely low income” category. Metro East refers to the eight Illinois counties in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area: Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair.
Limitations. LEAD figures are modeled estimates calibrated to utility totals, not individual bills. Counties with fewer than 2,000 households (Alexander, Calhoun, Hardin, Pope, Pulaski, Scott) rest on fewer survey responses and carry wider margins. Incomes and energy costs reflect 2022; Illinois electricity and gas prices have risen since, so current burdens are likely higher than shown while the relative ranking of counties is expected to hold. Burden is the ratio of group averages, which is how DOE reports it; it is not the average of individual household ratios.
Full methodology, raw data, the analysis script and a verification spreadsheet with every calculation as a live formula are available on request.
B & W Heating & Cooling is a third-generation, family-owned heating and air conditioning contractor founded in 1949 and based in Edwardsville, Illinois. The company repairs, installs and maintains furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps and ductless systems for homes and businesses across Madison County and the Metro East. Learn more at bwheatcool.com.