By Landon Cassman/CU-CitizenAccess — A greater percentage of Champaign County residents were renting housing units in 2010 than in 2000, according to 2010 Census data.

Although the number of households has increased by about 12,000 from 2000 to 2010,
only about 43,400 (53.8 percent) were owner-occupied in 2010, compared to the about 40,000 owner-occupied housing units (55.7 percent) in 2000.

While the percentage of owner-occupied housing units has gone down, the percentage of vacant housing has increased by approximately 1.6 percent in the ten year period. In 2000, about 4,700 housing units, or 6.2 percent, were vacant, compared to 6,900 housing units, or 7.9 percent, that were vacant in 2010.

In Illinois, there was a slight increase of the percentage of homeowners in 2010 than in 2000. According to 2010 Census data, 67.5 percent of housing was owner-occupied compared to 67.3 percent in 2000. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there was a decrease of 1.1 percent of homeowners from 2000-2010 nationwide.

Champaign County Housing Characteristics
Total housing 2000: 75,280
Occupied housing: 70,597 (93.8%)
Vacant: 4,683 (6.2%)
Owner-occupied: 39,329 (55.7%)
Renter-occupied: 31,268 (44.2%)

Total housing units 2010: 87,569
Occupied housing: 80,665 (92.1%)
Vacant: 6,904 (7.9%)
Owner-occupied: 43,419 (53.8%)
Renter-occupied: 37,246 (46.2%)

Illinois Housing Characteristics
Total housing units in 2000: 4,885,615
Occupied housing: 4,591,779 (94.0%)
Vacant: 293,836 (6.0%)
Owner-occupied: 3,088,884 (67.3%)
Renter-occupied: 1,502,895 (32.7%)

Total housing units 2010: 5,296,715
Occupied housing: 4,836,972 (91.3%)
Vacant: 459,743 (8.7%)
Owner-occupied: 3,263,639 (67.5%)
Renter-occupied: 1,573,333 (32.5%)