Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 78,804, settled in 1857.
Bloomington City Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, 188th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: residents are healthier than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $77K. A typical home there costs about $203K, 2.5 years of the Bloomington metro’s $80K median household income. 46% of working residents work locally in Bloomington City Township, against 8.3% in Illinois’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Bloomington City Township is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is The Grove, 89 acres with 3.1 miles of trail.
Where Bloomington City Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Bloomington City Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,594 in 1850, 78,680 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1865 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bloomington City 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Bloomington City Township.
28 miles of trail in 44 parks and preserves. The trail density in Bloomington City Township is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Bloomington City Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The Grove | 3.1 mi | 89 |
| 2. Miller Park | 0.9 mi | 70 |
| 3. Angler’s Lake Park | 0.7 mi | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Bloomington SD 87. Three of its 23 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomington Jr High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,050 | C+ |
| Bloomington High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,369 | B+ |
| Benjamin Elem SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 607 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Bloomington City Township. Bloomington City Township beats the Illinois average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 20% of adults get no exercise outside work in Bloomington City Township.
| Bloomington City Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 23% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Bloomington City Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.1% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.7% | 13.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Bloomington City Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 17° and about 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 35,966 working residents takes 16.8 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Bloomington City Township’s average trip to work is 17 minutes. Since 2013, Bloomington City Township has lost 4,699 jobs, to 49,433 in 2023. 21% of Bloomington City Township workers work from home.
| Bloomington City Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 21% | 11% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 26 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bloomington City Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bloomington City Township. Close and well known come first.
37 mi GardenRobert Allerton Park
36 mi MuseumMonticello Railway Museumin town MuseumPrairie Aviation Museum36 mi Zoo & aquariumPeoria Zoo
3 mi GardenFell ArboretumRobert Allerton Park: D. Finnigan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Monticello Railway Museum: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fell Arboretum: Willjay, CC BY 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Bloomington City Township
About 8 of every 100 Bloomington City Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
54 notable people were born in Bloomington City Township.
City in Illinois, United States
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 78,680 as of the 2020 census, making it the 13th-most populous city in Illinois and the fifth-most populous outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, which has a population of roughly 170,000. Bloomington is 135 miles (217 km) southwest of Chicago and 162 miles (261 km) northeast of St. Louis. Bloomington is home to Illinois Wesleyan University and the headquarters for State Farm and Country Financial. Bloomington is also home to the minor…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Bloomington City Township.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Bloomington (A−) comes closest.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomington City Township | #188 | A− | B− | — | B | A− |
| Bloomington | #204 | A− | B− | — | B | A− |
| Bloomington Township | #331 | B+ | C | — | B+ | A |
| Old Town Township | #251 | A− | C+ | — | B+ | A |
| Normal · Normal Township | #313 | B+ | B− | C | B+ | B+ |
| Dale Township | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | A |
| Towanda Township | — | — | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Dry Grove Township | — | — | B− | — | B+ | A− |
Dale Township, Towanda Township and Dry Grove Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bloomington City Township, Bloomington, Bloomington Township, Old Town Township, Dale Township, Towanda Township and Dry Grove Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Normal Township and Normal are one community, graded once. Compare Bloomington City Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Bloomington City Township grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #188 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health and B for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
54 notable people were born here, including Clinton Davisson and Elbert Green Hubbard.
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