Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Chicago Ridge is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 611th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 70% of the country. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its public schools trail 73% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $250K, 2.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. On hazard risk, just 21 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse. Chicago Ridge is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. On history, just 114 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse.
Where Chicago Ridge beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Chicago Ridge is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 176 in 1920, 14,433 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1988 and 8 maps from 1890 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chicago Ridge. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw12 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw15 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chicago Ridge, 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 Chicago Ridge.
Chicago Ridge is healthier than towns with similar incomes and trades workers with Chicago and other neighbors, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding).
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $701 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
At 88 of 100, Chicago Ridge’s FEMA risk score is where Illinois’ towns sit at 50 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. Since 1981, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chicago Ridge.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 10,447 U.S. towns with household incomes like Chicago Ridge’s, it is healthier than 88%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
21% of Chicago Ridge adults binge drink, against 18% in Illinois’ towns and 16% across U.S. towns. 30% of Chicago Ridge adults have high blood pressure. Chicago Ridge beats the Illinois average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Chicago Ridge | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 35% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 37% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| What stands out | Chicago Ridge | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 10.3% | 11.7% |
| Fewer adults with high blood pressure | 29.5% | 33% |
| More binge drinkers | 20.5% | 17.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The property crime rate in Chicago Ridge is 16.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Chicago Ridge | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Chicago Ridge has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Chicago Ridge has about as many jobs (5,110) as working residents, but only 242 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Chicago Ridge for work: only 4% work in town. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Chicago Ridge. The top destinations are Chicago (32%), Oak Lawn (5%) and Bedford Park (3%).
| Chicago Ridge | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.3% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Chicago Ridge home is worth about $250,000, up 3.9% in a year, 16% below the Illinois typical home.
| Chicago Ridge | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,304 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 13% of residents (17% statewide). Chicago Ridge has lost 2.9% of its people since 2020, down to 14,036 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Chicago Ridge | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.8 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Chicago Ridge | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 17.2% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.4% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 19.6% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.7% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.8% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.9% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.3% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.6% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.2% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.4% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
0.3 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Chicago Ridge’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Chicago Ridge | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.4% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chicago Ridge Prairie Nature Preserve | 0.3 mi | 15 |
| 2. Freedom Park | — | 13 |
| 3. Commissioners Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
44 within 15 miles of the center of Chicago Ridge
About 3 of every 100 Chicago Ridge residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Chicago Ridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 14,433. It is a suburb of Chicago.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Chicago Ridge.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Worth (C+) is closest.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Ridge | #611 | C | C+ | C | C | B+ |
| Oak Lawn | #502 | B− | C | B− | C+ | A− |
| Worth | #560 | C+ | C+ | B− | B | B− |
| Worth Township | #531 | C+ | C | — | C | B+ |
| Bridgeview | #350 | B+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Palos Township | #157 | A | C | — | A | A |
Worth Township, Bridgeview and Palos Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Chicago Ridge with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Chicago Ridge grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #611 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, C for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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