Thomson is a village along Illinois Route 84 near the Mississippi River in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. The population was 590 at the 2010 census, up from 559 at the 2000 census. Just north of the village is the United States Penitentiary, Thomson, a mostly-unused former state prison, purchased by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 2012. Currently USP Thomson houses over 100 low-security inmates as it remodels to federal maximum-security standards. Thomson is known for wonderful watermelons, and it has the nickname "Melon Capital of the World." Geography Thomson is located at (41.960168, -90.103152), about a mile (kilometer and a half) east of the Mississippi River in northwestern Illinois, northeast of Clinton, Iowa, northeast of Moline, Illinois in the Quad Cities, and west of Chicago. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Thomson has a total area of , all land. Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 1,610 people, 190 households, and 127 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 263 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 58.45% White, 36.65% African American, 2.11% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.55% of the population. There were 190 households, out of which 16.84% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.63% were married couples living together, 14.21% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.16% were non-families. 30.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.74% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 1.94. The village's age distribution consisted of 12.2% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 20.3% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 28.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males. The median income for a household in the village was $51,071, and the median income for a family was $62,031. Males had a median income of $27,330 versus $25,250 for females. The per capita income for the village was $30,156. About 4.7% of families and 11.1% of