Avena TownshipIL
A town of 1,875.
Is Avena Township a good place to live?
The best of Avena Township’s subject grades is an A− for cost of living; the weakest is a D for incomes. Avena Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 81% of U.S. towns. Avena Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
How Avena Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Avena Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Avena Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Avena Township, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Avena Township.
Health in Avena Township trails 83% of U.S. towns
Among adults in Avena Township, 16% report frequent physical distress. Avena Township: 40% of adults have high blood pressure, where Illinois’ towns sit at 35% and U.S. towns at 35%.
| Avena Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 35% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Avena Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.6% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.8% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 18.6% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On state tests, Avena Township’s schools trail 69% of Illinois districts
Two of the 3 schools are below, and why each made the list. Public schools: St Elmo CUSD 202. The 3 public schools in Avena Township teach 390 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Elmo Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 222 | C |
| St Elmo Sr High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 113 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
In Avena Township, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
The range runs from 21° on a January night to 87° on a July afternoon, with about 16 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in eight working residents works right in Avena Township
In Avena Township, the middle household income is $51,000. Most working residents leave Avena Township for work: only 13% work in town. Avena Township: a fifth of residents live below the poverty line, above both Illinois’ towns (8.4%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Since 2013, Avena Township has added 216 jobs, to 772 in 2023.
| Avena Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 8.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Avena Township has a high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
Expected losses in Avena Township break down as 40% from inland flooding and 22% from earthquakes. Compared with 60% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is higher.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0% of Avena Township is conserved land
5.2 miles of trail. The trail network density for Avena Township comes to 0.1 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Avena Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Avena Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Avena Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Avena Township
Unincorporated community in Illinois, United States
Avena is an unincorporated community in Avena and Sefton Townships, Fayette County, Illinois, United States. Avena is located on a CSX Transportation line 4.3 miles (6.9 km) west-southwest of St. Elmo.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Elevation
- 584 ft
Avena Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Avena Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avena Township | — | — | A− | — | C | C− |
| Loudon Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wheatland Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sefton Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mound Township | #184 | A− | A+ | — | B− | B− |
Avena Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Avena Township and Mound Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Loudon Township, Wheatland Township and Sefton Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Avena Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Avena Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Avena Township, IL expensive?
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−.