Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Carrier Mills’ subject grades is an A+ for cost of living; the weakest is a D for incomes. 25% of residents live below the poverty line in Carrier Mills, above both the Illinois town median (8.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On cost of living, just 24 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns do better. Carrier Mills's schools rank behind 87% of the state's. Carrier Mills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Carrier Mills beats most towns.
Where Carrier Mills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Carrier Mills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 427 in 1900, a peak of 3,000 in 1920, 1,672 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 4 maps from 1925 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carrier Mills, 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 Carrier Mills.
At $478 a month, Carrier Mills’ median rent is where Illinois’ towns sit at $1,129 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. The typical Carrier Mills home is worth about $80,000, down 3.7% in a year, 73% below the Illinois typical home.
| Carrier Mills | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $478 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 80% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Carrier Mills.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Carrier Mills beats the Illinois average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 41% of adults have high blood pressure in Carrier Mills.
| Carrier Mills | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Carrier Mills | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79.1% | 75.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.6% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Carrier Mills for work: only 3% work in town. Carrier Mills’ median household income is $51,000. Since 2013, Carrier Mills has lost 115 jobs, to 214 in 2023.
| Carrier Mills | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $51,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Carrier Mills has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Carrier Mills is 88°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Carrier Mills | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Washington Street Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Carrier Mills
About 2 of every 100 Carrier Mills residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Carrier Mills, formerly Carrier's Mills and Morrilsville, also known as Catskin, is a village in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,672 at the 2020 census. Carrier Mills was named after George Washington Carrier's saw and grist mills, and was one of the early Cairo and Vincennes Railroad boomtowns. Founded as a mill town and then a coal mining community, Carrier Mills has slowly lost 44% of its population since the 1920 census high of 3,000, due to the decline of the local coal industry. The village has primarily become a bedroom community, located seven miles (11 km) southwest of Harrisburg, which is the village's main source of employment, entertainment, and shop…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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 A+.
2 notable people were born here, including Emerson Cole and Fred Wampler.