Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Champaign's standout: few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Overall it grades C−, 624th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Its weakest subject is safety: its police reported 342 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. 26% of residents live below the poverty line in Champaign, above both the Illinois town median (8.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Its National Register listings include Cattle Bank and Burnham Athenaeum. Only 9 of the 768 Illinois towns we compare have a lower median age than Champaign.
Where Champaign beats most towns.
Cattle Bank
Its 27 National Register listings are more than in 98% of Illinois towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,727 in 1860, 88,302 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Champaign is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Champaign. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaGies Memorial Stadium
3 mi LandmarkAmerican Football House
3 mi TheatreKrannert Center for the Performing Artsin town MuseumKrannert Art Museum
16 mi MuseumMonticello Railway Museum
14 mi MuseumOctave Chanute Aerospace MuseumGies Memorial Stadium: T.J. Blakeman, CC BY-SA 4.0 · American Football House: BanjoZebra, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Krannert Center for the Performing Arts: Aries Liang, Public domain · Monticello Railway Museum: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Champaign, 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 Champaign.
Champaign is shaped by its college students, draws workers from Urbana and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
45,898 jobs are based in Champaign, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14.9 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
45% of Champaign working residents work locally. The top destinations are Urbana (15%), Chicago (4%) and Champaign Township (2%). Champaign’s median household income is $56,000.
| Champaign | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 45% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 17% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The property crime rate in Champaign is 20.6 per 1,000 residents. Champaign reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 82% report less. The violent crime rate in Champaign is 3.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Champaign | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 7,760 U.S. towns with household incomes like Champaign’s, it is healthier than 96%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
8.2% of adults have diabetes in Champaign. Champaign beats the Illinois average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 31% of adults have obesity in Champaign.
| Champaign | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 78% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.2% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Champaign | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.8% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.9% | 5.9% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 12.9% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
5.1 miles of trail in 55 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Dodds Park, at 112 acres.
| Champaign | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heritage Park | 0.8 mi | 42 |
| 2. Commissioners Park | 0.3 mi | 20 |
| 3. Washington Park | 0.3 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Champaign has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 18° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Champaign home is worth about $236,000, up 3.8% in a year, 20% below the Illinois typical home. Only 9 of the 768 Illinois towns we compare have a lower share of households owning their home than Champaign.
| Champaign | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 44% | 75% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 57% | 46% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 105 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Champaign.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Champaign
College town 30 of every 100 Champaign residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 colleges in town.
27 places in Champaign on the National Register of Historic Places.
47 notable people were born in Champaign.
City in Illinois, United States
Champaign ( sham-PAYN) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents in 2020. Champaign shares the main campus of the University of Illinois with its twin city of Urbana and is also home to Parkland College, which gives the city a large student population during the academic year. Due to the university and a number of technology startup companies, it is often referred to as a hub of the Illinois Silicon P…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Champaign.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champaign | #624 | C− | C− | C− | C | B+ |
| Champaign City Township | #504 | B− | C− | — | C | A− |
| Champaign Township | #280 | A− | C | — | B− | A |
| Hensley Township | — | — | B | — | B− | A |
| Urbana | #652 | C− | C | D | C− | A− |
| Cunningham Township | #567 | C | C | — | C− | B+ |
| Urbana Township | #493 | B− | B | — | C− | B+ |
| Somer Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Hensley Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Champaign City Township, Champaign Township, Hensley Township, Cunningham Township and Urbana Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Somer Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Champaign with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Champaign grades C− overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #624 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, C− for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($65,528 across the Champaign-Urbana, 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 C−.
47 notable people were born here, including Saul Perlmutter and James Tobin.
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