Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Canton gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $108K, 1.8 years of the Canton area’s $61K median household income. It grades C overall, 619th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $53K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, 28% of its land is conserved. 28% of the land in Canton is conserved, above both Illinois’ towns (3.6%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Canton has 3 places on the National Register. The biggest place to walk is Lakeland Park, 459 acres with 1.9 miles of trail.
Where Canton beats most towns.
Census counts: 762 in 1840, 13,242 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1912 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Canton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Canton, 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 Canton.
Canton trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of Illinois.
Homes are within reach (about $108K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles. At 1.8 years of the Canton area’s $61K median household income, the typical home (about $108K) costs less against local pay than in 85% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
Canton’s median rent is $766 a month, where Illinois’ towns sit at $1,129 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. Typical home values rose 4.8% in the year to September 2026. 68% of Canton households own their home.
| Canton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $766 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lakeland Park | 1.9 mi | 459 |
| 2. Canton Lake | 1.8 mi | 310 |
| 3. Big Creek Park | — | 298 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 6,858 U.S. towns with household incomes like Canton’s, it is healthier than 53%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Canton beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Canton.
| Canton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Canton | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18% | 10.3% |
| More smokers | 17.6% | 12.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.1% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Canton has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 17° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 4,797 working residents takes 21.3 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Canton’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Canton is 21 minutes. The top destinations are Peoria (9%), Pekin (3%) and Chicago (2%).
| Canton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 34% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1985, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Canton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Canton
About 5 of every 100 Canton residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
28.3% of the town is conserved land, across 10 parks and preserves.
3 places in Canton on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Canton.
Largest city in Fulton County, Illinois
Canton is the largest city in Fulton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,242 at the 2020 census, down from 14,704 at the 2010 census. The Canton Micropolitan Statistical Area covers all of Fulton County; it is, in turn, part of the wider Peoria–Canton, Illinois Combined Statistical Area (CSA).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Canton.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton · Canton Township | #619 | C | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Buckheart Township | — | — | A | — | C+ | C |
Buckheart Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Canton and Buckheart Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Canton Township and Canton are one community, graded once. Compare Canton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Canton grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #619 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C for health and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
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 B+.
14 notable people were born here, including Steven R. Nagel and Barbara Mertz.
