Paris is a somewhat small city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 8,961 people and three constituent neighborhoods, Paris is the 226th largest community in Illinois. Much of the housing stock in Paris was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

When you are in Paris, you'll notice that it is more blue-collar than most other communities in America. 42.1% of Paris's employed work in blue-collar jobs, while America averages only 24.7% that do. Overall, Paris is a city of production and manufacturing workers, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Paris who work in office and administrative support jobs (12.64%), sales jobs (6.80%), and management occupations (5.86%).

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Paris spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.63 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.

Paris is a very car-oriented city. 97.15% of residents commute to work in a private automobile rather than by other means, such as public transit, bicycling, or walking. This is because Paris is a small city, and most people who live here have to drive out of town for work, and the town population is not large nor dense enough to support an extensive public transportation system. Paris has a lot of rural roads, and houses can be far apart. Many residents drive out of town for regular shopping trips as well.

As is often the case in a small city, Paris doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Paris Information and Demographics

The percentage of people in Paris with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 14.96%: just 11.09% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Paris in 2000 was $17,750, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $71,000 for a family of four.

The people who call Paris home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Paris is White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Paris include German, Irish, English, and Dutch.

The most common language spoken in Paris is English.