Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 39,315, settled in 1959.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Carol Stream grades A overall, 147th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The median household earns $102K and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 76% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $382K for a typical one and 4.2 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. Only 24 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on history. Carol Stream is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Armstrong Park, at 72 acres.
Where Carol Stream beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Carol Stream is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 836 in 1960, 39,854 in 2020. The archive holds 13 old photos and papers going back to 1962 and 7 maps from 1908 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Carol Stream. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw30 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
14 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate ArenaSoldier 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 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carol Stream, 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 Carol Stream.
Carol Stream gets more snow than almost anywhere else in Illinois and trades workers with Chicago and other neighbors, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
6.1 miles of trail in 33 parks and preserves. Carol Stream’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile, where Illinois’ towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
| Carol Stream | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.3% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ross Ferraro Town Center | 1.2 mi | 17 |
| 2. Kent Park | 0.7 mi | 33 |
| 3. McCaslin Park | 0.5 mi | 32 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
17% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Carol Stream, below both the Illinois town median (22%) and the median of U.S. towns (23%). 29% of adults have obesity in Carol Stream. Carol Stream beats the Illinois average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Carol Stream | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 22% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Carol Stream | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.9% | 7.8% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.4% | 13.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 328 to 270 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 23 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
Carol Stream’s violent crime rate is 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Carol Stream | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.3 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $7,987, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median rent in Carol Stream is $1,529 a month. The typical Carol Stream home is worth about $382,000, up 3.8% in a year, 29% above the Illinois typical home. 67% of Carol Stream households own their home.
| Carol Stream | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,529 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
123 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 25 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 123 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Carol Stream.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The St. Charles 0.1 E weather station, 9 miles away, records that 46 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, the highest of 2,880 Illinois places with climate records.
Carol Stream has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84° and January nights drop to 15°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Carol Stream has about as many jobs (20,979) as working residents, but only 1,595 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Carol Stream for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Carol Stream grew to 20,979 in 2023, 2,163 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Chicago (14%), Bloomingdale (4%) and Schaumburg (4%).
| Carol Stream | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $102,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 11% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Illinois average. 43% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Carol Stream | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 29% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 19% | 18% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.5 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 41.4, men 38.9.
| Carol Stream | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.3% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.8% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.8% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.2% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.8% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.4% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.9% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.3% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.4% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
14 within 15 miles of the center of Carol Stream
About 8 of every 100 Carol Stream residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in the United States
Carol Stream is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. It was incorporated on January 5, 1959, and named after the daughter of its founder, Jay Stream. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,854.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Carol Stream.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carol Stream | #147 | A | C− | A− | B+ | A |
| Glendale Heights | #360 | B+ | C− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Bloomingdale Township | #265 | A− | D | — | B+ | A− |
| Winfield | #17 | A+ | C− | A | A− | A |
| Wayne Township | #394 | B | D | — | B− | A |
| Hanover Park | #250 | A− | C− | A− | B+ | A− |
| Wheaton | #49 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Bloomingdale | #202 | A− | D | — | A− | A− |
Bloomingdale Township, Wayne Township and Bloomingdale report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Carol Stream with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Carol Stream grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #147 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health, A− for safety and B+ 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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Austin Gomez and Randy Merkel.
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