Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
91,195 people live in this city, settled in 1855.
Champaign City Township’s grades pull in different directions. Cost of living is its weak spot (C−): the typical home is worth about $211K, 3.2 years of the Champaign metro’s $66K median household income. The city grades B− overall and ranks 504th of 767 in Illinois. On that grade it does better than 45% of U.S. towns. It lags on schools as well: its schools rank behind nearly two thirds of the state's. Where it does best is walkability (A+). The biggest park or preserve is Dodds Park, at 112 acres. 26% of residents live below the poverty line here, where Illinois’ towns sit at 8.4% and U.S. towns at 9.6%.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · OpenStreetMap.
Where Champaign City Township beats most towns.
Where Champaign City Township’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 Champaign City Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,727 in 1860, 88,302 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 4 maps from 1907 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Champaign City Township. 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 City 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Champaign City Township.
Champaign City Township is shaped by its college students, draws workers from Champaign and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
The public schools here belong to Champaign CUSD 4. Below: Three of its 33 schools, each with why it was picked. 6 public schools serve Champaign City Township, with 2,890 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 711 | C |
| Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,666 | A− |
| Bottenfield Elem SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 456 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
45,898 jobs are based in Champaign City Township, 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.
The top destinations are Champaign (45%), Urbana (15%) and Chicago (4%). Champaign City Township: 17% of workers work remotely from home. Its middle household income is $56,000.
| Champaign City Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 26% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| 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% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 7,760 U.S. towns with household incomes like Champaign City Township’s, it is healthier than 98%, so its A− isn’t only a matter of income.
Just over three quarters of adults had a checkup this year in Champaign City Township. CDC measures, 32 in all: Champaign City Township beats Illinois on 8 and trails on 3.
| Champaign City Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.3% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Champaign City Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.5% | 3.3% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.5% | 5.9% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 9.8% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails total 5.1 miles in 55 parks and preserves. Champaign City Township’s trail network density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Champaign City Township | 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
Expect July afternoons of 85° and January nights of 18°, with about 21 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The national flood insurance program has paid 98 claims in Champaign City Township since 1979. Compared with 60% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is higher. FEMA puts 46% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 26% to cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Champaign City Township
College town 30 of every 100 Champaign City Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
64 notable people were born in Champaign City Township.
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 City Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champaign City Township | #504 | B− | C− | — | C | A− |
| Champaign | #624 | C− | C− | C− | C | B+ |
| 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 City Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Champaign City Township grades B− overall, better than 45% of U.S. towns and #504 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health and C 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−.
64 notable people were born here, including Saul Perlmutter and James Tobin.
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