Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,465, settled in 1830.
Carlinville gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $152K for a typical one, or 1.9 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 558th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, including 30 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 78% of the country. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. 31% of working residents work locally in Carlinville, against 8.3% in Illinois’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Carlinville is home to Blackburn College. Carlinville's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Where Carlinville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Carlinville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,117 in 1880, 5,710 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1925 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carlinville, 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 Carlinville.
Carlinville has homes that are cheap against local pay and has commutes shorter than most of Illinois, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Illinois rate.
Violent crime runs at 5.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Illinois rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D.
Carlinville’s violent crime rate is 5.4 per 1,000 residents. Carlinville reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 90% report less. Carlinville’s property crime rate is 22.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Carlinville | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.4 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 1.9 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $152K) costs less against local pay than in 82% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living. At about $152K, home values are up 14% in five years, against a rise of 30% across Illinois.
The median rent in Carlinville is $824 a month. Typical home values rose 6.5% in the year to September 2026. 64% of households own their home in Carlinville.
| Carlinville | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $824 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
25% of Carlinville adults have been diagnosed with depression. Carlinville beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 13% of Carlinville adults have diabetes.
| Carlinville | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Carlinville | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 26.8% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 17.7% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Carlinville has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 21° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 2,359 working residents takes 21.2 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Carlinville’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Carlinville grew to 3,003 in 2023, 354 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Springfield (9%), Carlinville Township (6%) and Litchfield (2%).
| Carlinville | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.5 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Loveless Park, at 20 acres.
| Carlinville | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Loveless Park South | 0.4 mi | 13 |
| 2. Loveless Park | — | 20 |
| 3. Denby Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Carlinville since 1993.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Carlinville
About 7 of every 100 Carlinville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
11 notable people were born in Carlinville.
City in Illinois, United States
Carlinville is a city in and the county seat of Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,710. It is the home of Blackburn College, a small college affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The city is the former home of Prairie Farms Dairy.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Carlinville grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #558 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health, D for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Louis, MO-IL metro 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.
11 notable people were born here, including Mary Hunter Austin and Mark Juergensmeyer.