Candlewick LakeIL
Home to 5,448 people, this town lies in Illinois.
Is Candlewick Lake a good place to live?
A tough set of grades. Walkability is its weak spot. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. It lags on cost of living as well (C): the typical home is worth about $172K, 2.5 years of the Rockford metro’s $68K median household income. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (B+). The overall grade comes out at D, 685th of 767 in Illinois. On that grade it does better than 15% of U.S. towns. Only 22 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on the outdoors.
Figures: FEMA National Risk Index · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · USGS PAD-US.
What makes Candlewick Lake stand out
Where Candlewick Lake beats most towns.
98% of working residents leave Candlewick Lake for work
Where Candlewick Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Candlewick Lake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Candlewick Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Candlewick Lake: who provides what
Candlewick Lake is unincorporated, so Boone County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Candlewick Lake.
Candlewick Lake sends most of its workers out of town
Candlewick Lake has 80 jobs for its 2,099 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 38.4 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most people who work leave Candlewick Lake to do it: just 2% work in town. The town’s mean commuting time is 38 minutes, above both Illinois’ towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Also worth knowing: it had 80 jobs in 2023, up 27 from 2013. The top destinations are Rockford (20%), Belvidere (11%) and Chicago (5%).
| Candlewick Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 38 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Top of a low hazard risk in Candlewick Lake: inland flooding
Of the losses FEMA expects in Candlewick Lake, 43% come from inland flooding and 21% from tornadoes. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. The national flood insurance program has paid one claim here since 2019.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Expect four seasons and pleasant summers in Candlewick Lake
Candlewick Lake’s midsummer high comes in at 83°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Residents of Candlewick Lake are less healthy than 52% of U.S. towns
The share of adults in Candlewick Lake who smoke cigarettes is 15%, where Illinois’ towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 14%. For adults locally, the share who binge drink is 19%. Two figures for adults here: 76% had a checkup this year, 18% report frequent mental distress.
| Candlewick Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Candlewick Lake | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 15.3% | 12.1% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 18.2% | 15.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Candlewick Lake sells for about $260K
93% of Candlewick Lake households live in a home they own. The town’s midpoint rent is $1,520 a month. In Candlewick Lake, 56% of sales closed above the list price.
| Candlewick Lake | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,520 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Illinois Railway Museum and 14 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Candlewick Lake. Close and well known come first.
19 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
13 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
35 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
11 mi GardenAnderson Japanese Gardens
30 mi TheatreEgyptian Theatre, DeKalb36 mi MuseumVolo Auto MuseumPhoto credits
Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anderson Japanese Gardens: M. Readey, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb: Andy McMurray, CC BY 2.5
Everything we know about Candlewick Lake
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Candlewick Lake
About 7 of every 100 Candlewick Lake residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About Candlewick Lake
CDP in Illinois, United States
Candlewick Lake is an unincorporated, gated community in Boone County, Illinois, United States. Candlewick Lake is located between Poplar Grove and Timberlane; the community includes a lake with the same name. It is part of the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Candlewick Lake had a population of 5,115. Water source provided by Aqua Illinois privatized water corporation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Elevation
- 906 ft
Candlewick Lake’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Candlewick Lake.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candlewick Lake | #685 | D | C | — | C | B− |
| Poplar Grove | #464 | B− | C | — | B− | A− |
Candlewick Lake and Poplar Grove report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Candlewick Lake with a neighbor →
Questions about Candlewick Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Candlewick Lake, IL a good place to live?
Candlewick Lake grades D overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #685 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B− for health and C for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Candlewick Lake, IL expensive?
The typical home is worth about $172,000, 42% below the Illinois typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.