Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Chatham Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A overall, 167th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 82% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $89K. A typical home there costs about $191K, 2.5 years of the Springfield metro’s $76K median household income. 50% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Chatham Township, above both the Illinois town median (29%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). Illinois Route 4-North of Auburn is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Chatham Township beats most towns.
6,978 counted in 2010 and 8,399 in 2020; an estimated 8,487 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Chatham Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 278 in 1860, 14,377 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2019 and 2 maps from 1924 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chatham Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi LandmarkLincoln Tomb
11 mi National Historic SiteLincoln Home National Historic Site124K visitors a year11 mi National MonumentSpringfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument
11 mi MuseumOld State Capitol State Historic Site
22 mi MuseumLincoln's New Salem
11 mi MuseumIllinois State MuseumLincoln Tomb: David Jones, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Lincoln Home National Historic Site: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Old State Capitol State Historic Site: Shadow2700 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Lincoln's New Salem: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Illinois State Museum: Mike Linksvayer from Oakland, California, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chatham 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 Chatham Township.
Chatham Township has less no health insurance than most of Illinois and sends most of its workers to Springfield and beyond.
Its widest gap with Illinois is no health insurance: 5.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 9.9% statewide.
20% of adults binge drink in Chatham Township. Chatham Township beats the Illinois average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 18% of adults get no exercise outside work in Chatham Township.
| Chatham Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 23% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Chatham Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.2% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.8% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Ball Chatham CUSD 5. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 500 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Chatham Township has 1,151 jobs for its 3,983 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 19.3 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Chatham Township for work: only 3% work in town. The average trip to work in Chatham Township is 19 minutes. The top destinations are Springfield (61%), Chatham (4%) and Chicago (2%).
| Chatham Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Chatham Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 20° and about 22 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 24 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chatham Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.7 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Chatham Community Park, at 39 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chatham Community Park | — | 39 |
| 2. West Side Park | — | 14 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Square | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Chatham Township
About 3 of every 100 Chatham Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Chatham Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Village in Illinois, United States
Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. It is located 2.8 miles (4.5 km) south of Springfield. The population was 11,500 as of the 2010 census and 14,377 as of 2020. The village lies along the original alignment of historic U.S. Route 66 (Illinois Route 4). Chatham is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Chatham Township.
Auburn Township next door grades lower for schools (C+ to Chatham Township’s B+) and higher for cost of living (A− to B−).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham Township | #167 | A | B− | — | B+ | A− |
| Curran Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | A− |
| Ball Township | #145 | A | B− | — | A− | B+ |
| Auburn Township | #353 | B+ | A− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Chatham | #92 | A | C+ | B+ | A− | A |
| Springfield | #702 | D | B | D− | C− | C+ |
| Capital Township | #580 | C | B | — | C− | B− |
| Loami Township | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | B+ |
Curran Township and Loami Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Chatham Township, Curran Township, Ball Township, Auburn Township, Capital Township and Loami Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Chatham Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Chatham Township grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #167 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
.jpg){kind=link}