Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 26,586, settled in 1833.
Yes, by almost any measure. Batavia earns an A, 97th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The median household earns $120K, residents are healthier than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and its public schools beat 79% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $464K for a typical one and 5.1 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 57% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Batavia, where Illinois’ towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%. On hazard risk, just 116 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better. Batavia is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns.
Where Batavia beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,622 in 1860, 26,098 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 6 maps from 1932 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Batavia is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Batavia. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw38 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw35 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Batavia, 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 Batavia.
Batavia carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding), has less food insecurity than most of Illinois and has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more.
8.0 miles of trail in 29 parks and preserves. The trail density in Batavia is 0.7 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Braeburn Marsh Forest Preserve, at 57 acres.
| Batavia | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Big Woods Park | 0.9 mi | 18 |
| 2. Hawk's Bluff Park | 0.8 mi | 24 |
| 3. Batavia Riverwalk | 0.6 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 7.9% of its 19,771 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
9% of adults smoke cigarettes in Batavia. Batavia beats the Illinois average on 16 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Batavia.
| Batavia | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Batavia | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.3% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
61.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 47.9% across Illinois. The median property tax bill is $8,963, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 5.6% in the year to September 2026. Batavia’s median rent is $1,347 a month.
| Batavia | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,347 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 91% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $160 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1996, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Batavia.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 282 to 215 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 16 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Batavia has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 15° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
24.3% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Batavia for work: only 10% work in town. 24% of Batavia workers work from home. Jobs based in Batavia grew to 17,657 in 2023, 2,513 more than in 2013.
| Batavia | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 24% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $120,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
10 within 15 miles of the center of Batavia
About 5 of every 100 Batavia residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
10 places in Batavia on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Batavia.
City in the United States
Batavia () is a city mainly in Kane County and partly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in the Chicago metropolitan area, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 26,098. During the latter part of the 19th century, Batavia, home to six American-style windmill manufacturing companies, became known as "The Windmill City". Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a federal government-sponsored high-energy physics laboratory, where both the bottom quark and the top quark were first detected, is located just east of the city limits. Batavia is part of a vernacular region known as the Tri-City area, along with St. Ch…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Batavia.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batavia | #97 | A | C− | B+ | A− | A |
| Geneva | #47 | A+ | D | B+ | A | A+ |
| North Aurora | #406 | B | C− | — | C+ | A |
| Aurora | #422 | B | C− | C+ | B+ | B |
| Batavia Township | #213 | A− | C− | — | B | A |
| Geneva Township | #68 | A | D | — | A | A |
| West Chicago | #378 | B | D | B+ | A− | B+ |
North Aurora, Batavia Township and Geneva Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Batavia with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Batavia grades A overall, better than 92% of U.S. towns and #97 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
12 notable people were born here, including Dan Issel and Craig Sager.
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