Cave TownshipIL
A town of 1,649, settled in 1847.
Is Cave Township a good place to live?
Cave Township’s best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a D for walkability. Cave Township’s average trip to work is 44 minutes, against 26 minutes in Illinois’ towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Only 61 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns score lower on walkability. Cave Township's schools rank behind 87% of the state's. Only 33 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on the outdoors. Cave Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
96% of working residents leave Cave Township for work
Where Cave Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Cave Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Cave Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Cave Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cave Township, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Cave Township.
Cave Township earns a D for schools
Its public schools are run by Thompsonville CUSD 174. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thompsonville Grade SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 204 | C |
| Thompsonville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 90 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Cave Township’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Cave Township for work: only 4% work in town. At $63,000, Cave Township’s median household income is below both the Illinois town median ($83,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). Jobs based in Cave Township fell to 208 in 2023, 27 fewer than in 2013.
| Cave Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $63,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.2% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Cave Township, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Cave Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Cave Township’s July high is 88°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Cave Township is less healthy than 64% of U.S. towns
Cave Township beats the Illinois average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 16% of adults smoke cigarettes in Cave Township.
| Cave Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Cave Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.8% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 11% | 13.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 9% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Earthquakes leads a high hazard risk in Cave Township
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0% of Cave Township is conserved land
1.9 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. The trail density in Cave Township is 0.1 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Cave Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Cave Township; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Cave Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Cave Township
Township in Illinois, United States
Cave Township is one of twelve townships in Franklin County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,683 and it contained 828 housing units.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 476 ft
Cave Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Cave Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Township | — | — | A | — | D | C+ |
| Eastern Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Frankfort Township | #744 | D | A− | — | D | D |
| South Flannigan Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tate Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Cave Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Cave Township and Frankfort Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Eastern Township, South Flannigan Township and Tate Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Cave Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Cave Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Cave Township, IL expensive?
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.