Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Arcola gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $168K, 2.2 years of the county’s $77K median household income. It grades B+ overall, ranked 335th of 767 in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 79% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 33% of working residents work locally in Arcola, above both Illinois’ towns (8.3%) and U.S. towns (8%). Arcola Carnegie Public Library is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 10 of the 768 Illinois towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Arcola.
Where Arcola beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Arcola is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for hazard risk (better than 15%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,515 in 1880, 2,927 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 4 maps from 1935 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Arcola, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Arcola.
Arcola sees little violent crime and has commutes shorter than most of Illinois, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
The median property tax bill is $2,426, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Arcola’s median rent is $803 a month. Typical home values rose 9.6% in the year to September 2026.
| Arcola | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $803 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 9,966 U.S. towns with household incomes like Arcola’s, it is less healthy than 89%, so it trails even them.
Arcola beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 16% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Arcola.
| Arcola | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 23% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Arcola | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.8% | 10.3% |
| More uninsured adults | 15.8% | 9.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Arcola is 4.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Arcola | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Arcola has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 19° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,418 working residents takes 13.9 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Arcola’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Arcola grew to 1,570 in 2023, 180 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Arthur (8%), Champaign (5%) and Mattoon (5%).
| Arcola | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $90,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Moore Memorial Park, at 26 acres.
| Arcola | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Moore Memorial Park | 0.5 mi | 26 |
| 2. Arcola City Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
| 3. Raggedy Ann and Andy Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Arcola; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Arcola residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
4 notable people were born in Arcola.
City in Illinois, United States
Arcola is a city in Douglas County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,915 at the 2024 census. The city was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad was built through the county. The railroad itself was responsible for surveying, platting and founding the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Arcola grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #335 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.
4 notable people were born here, including Johnny Gruelle and Henry Ellsworth Ewing.
