Editing Spring Valley, Illinois (section)

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1890= 3837
|1900= 6214
|1910= 7035
|1920= 6493
|1930= 5270
|1940= 5010
|1950= 4916
|1960= 5371
|1970= 5605
|1980= 5822
|1990= 5246
|2000= 5398
|2010= 5558
|2020= 5582
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US1772156 |access-date=2022-06-28 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref> there were 5,582 people, 2,221 households, and 1,421 families residing in the city. The population density was {{Convert|754.83|PD/sqmi|PD/km2}}. There were 2,539 housing units at an average density of {{Convert|343.34|/sqmi|/km2}}. The racial makeup of the city was 79.34% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.83% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.64% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.95% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 7.40% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 9.84% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 18.70% of the population.

There were 2,221 households, out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.32% were married couples living together, 10.45% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.02% were non-families. 29.27% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.87% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 2.26.

The city's age distribution consisted of 19.7% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,549, and the median income for a family was $58,545. Males had a median income of $42,969 versus $17,281 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $26,500. About 11.9% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

===Name===
Spring Valley lies in the valley of Spring Creek.   The hills on either side of this valley were, and are to some extent today, laced with springs that still feed Spring Creek.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

There were numerous springs in the town itself.  One in the vicinity of the once Hunter-Doherty Lumber yard was so large and fast-flowing that the indigenous people from that area had an encampment there.  Remains of this encampment were visible in the early days of the town.  There was a large spring that flowed from the side of the hill between East St. Paul Street and East Devlin Street, down a gully into Spring Creek.  Springs still feed the pond of water at the foot of Number One slag dump on East St. Paul Street.  This area is now the "Coal Mine Park" owned by Spring Valley PRIDE.  The first drinking water supply was piped from large springs on North Sixth Street.

So, with the springs and valleys, it was easy to conceive the name Spring Valley.  There is a record that the Indians called this territory, "The Valley of the Springs."

The fact that Spring Valley is located at the point in the river valley where the high bluffs, which contains the famous stream, are closer together than anywhere else in the grain belt and that there is a minimum flood plain has made this point most attractive for the location of grain elevators.  It has become the fulcrum of the grain handling industry of the upper section of the [[Illinois River]].