Malta, Illinois

Malta was founded in 1855, under the name of Milton. Shortly afterwards, the name was changed to Etna, then Malta after the Galena Railway station that served the village. The present name is after the island of Malta. Malta was the site of the first "seedling mile" of concrete pavement for the transcontinental Lincoln Highway in 1914. Seedling miles were built to demonstrate construction techniques and generate support for the highway. The pavement extended from the Malta cemetery at the west edge of town to near the present location of Kishwaukee College. Malta struggled financially until the end of World War I, when an influx of new residents to the area arrived. Currently, Malta is a farming community and also supports nearby Kishwaukee College. ==Geography==

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Malta has a total area of , of which (or 96.39%) is land and (or 3.61%) is water. ==Business==

Malta has no large businesses. Most are small operations. Farming and the agriculture industry surround the town. Primary crops are corn and soybeans. Hog confinement operations are near the village within rural Malta Township. A bank, gas station/convenience store, excavating company, grain elevator, apple orchard, small restaurant, a few auto repair facilities, post office, a photographer, a plumbing company, and an auctioneering company make up the businesses in or near the village. A few individuals in the vicinity have their own businesses that involve carpentry, plumbing, landscaping, and animal control. ==Schools==

For many years, Malta was served by Malta Community Unit School District 433. The District had what was originally a single schoolhouse (K-12) in Village limits and eventually a secondary school (7–12) off of Route 38, keeping grades K-6 at the original building. District 433 was absorbed into neighboring DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 in 2000. Kishwaukee College, founded in 1968, is located 1 mile west of Malta. ==Demographics==

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Malta had a population of 1,143. The median age was 34.3 years. 25.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.5 males age 18 and over. There were 419 households and 322 families in Malta. Of the households, 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.1% were married-couple households, 19.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The population density was . There were 464 housing units at an average density of . Of the housing units, 9.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 12.7%. Income and poverty The median income for a household in the village was $73,250, and the median income for a family was $86,974. Males had a median income of $40,804 versus $36,023 for females. The per capita income for the village was $28,118. About 14.6% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 0.9% of those age 65 or over. ==References==