Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
77% more nonprofits per person than the typical Illinois town.
Chillicothe gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $192K, 2.7 years of the Peoria metro’s $72K median household income. It grades A− overall, 284th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 67% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Chillicothe’s median age is 51.2 years, above both Illinois’ towns (40.7 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). On civic life, just 102 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns do better. Peoria Automobile Club is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Chillicothe beats most towns.
Peoria Automobile Club
Census counts: 663 in 1860, 6,128 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1861 and 4 maps from 1893 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Chillicothe is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chillicothe, 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 Chillicothe.
Chillicothe pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Illinois norm and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Chillicothe grades A− overall with a typical home of about $192K, below the Illinois typical value; only 48 of the 183 Illinois towns graded A− or better can say that.
The median rent in Chillicothe is $899 a month. Typical home values rose 5.1% in the year to September 2026. 84% of households own their home in Chillicothe.
| Chillicothe | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $899 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 2,676 working residents takes 21.8 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Chillicothe for work: only 16% work in town. 3.7% of Chillicothe residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Chillicothe fell to 1,561 in 2023, 204 fewer than in 2013.
| Chillicothe | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1.4 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Chilicothe Bottoms, at 69 acres.
| Chillicothe | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Moffitt Nature Park | 0.6 mi | 23 |
| 2. Santa Fe Park | 0.3 mi | 4 |
| 3. Chilicothe Bottoms | — | 69 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Chillicothe has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 16° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
134 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1979, 134 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chillicothe.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 10,111 U.S. towns with household incomes like Chillicothe’s, it is healthier than 80%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Chillicothe beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Chillicothe | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 37% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 22% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Chillicothe | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.2% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10% | 13.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.4% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Chillicothe’s property crime rate is 18.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Chillicothe | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chillicothe. Close and well known come first.
39 mi State parkStarved Rock State Park
18 mi Zoo & aquariumWildlife Prairie Park14 mi Zoo & aquariumPeoria Zoo
11 mi MuseumMetamora Courthouse State Historic Site
11 mi MuseumAdlai E. Stevenson I House
14 mi GardenGeorge L. Luthy Memorial Botanical GardenStarved Rock State Park: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wildlife Prairie Park: Katherine Johnson, CC BY 2.0 · Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site: ProfDEH, Public domain · Adlai E. Stevenson I House: Nyttend, Public domain · George L. Luthy Memorial Botanical Garden: Original uploader was ProfDEH at en.wikipedia, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of Chillicothe
About 4 of every 100 Chillicothe residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Chillicothe’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 notable people were born in Chillicothe.
City in Illinois, United States
Chillicothe () is a town on the Illinois River in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Chillicothe had a population of 6,128. Chillicothe is just north of the city of Peoria and is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Chillicothe.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chillicothe | #284 | A− | A− | C+ | B+ | B |
| Rome | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | A− |
Rome has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Rome reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Chillicothe with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Chillicothe grades A− overall, better than 75% of U.S. towns and #284 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
3 notable people were born here, including Zach McAllister and Gene Maddox.
