Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,859, settled in 1857. 27% more nonprofits per person than the typical Illinois town.
Coal Valley is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, 296th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $107K. It also does better than most on health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 82% of the country. A typical home there costs about $272K, 3.7 years of the Davenport metro’s $73K median household income. 23% of the land in Coal Valley is conserved, where Illinois’ towns sit at 3.6% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 77 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns score lower on walkability. Coal Valley's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 89% of U.S. towns.
Where Coal Valley beats most towns.
Where Coal Valley’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 Coal Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 311 in 1880, a low of 184 in 1920, 3,873 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 5 maps from 1937 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Coal Valley, 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 Coal Valley.
Coal Valley has less food insecurity than most of Illinois, sends most of its workers to Moline and beyond and has seen reported crime fall by about half.
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 9.1% of its 3,030 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
Coal Valley: 31% of adults feel lonely. A fifth of adults binge drink here, above both Illinois’ towns (18%) and U.S. towns (16%). Against the Illinois average, Coal Valley comes out ahead on 10 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 2. Two figures for adults here: 19% get no exercise outside work, 33% sleep under 7 hours.
| Coal Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 23% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Coal Valley | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.1% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.1% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 47 to 21 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
The level of violent crime for Coal Valley comes to 0.3 per 1,000 residents. Its level of property crime stands at 5.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Coal Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Coal Valley has 436 jobs for its 1,791 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 20.4 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Coal Valley had 436 jobs in 2023, up 59 from 2013. Commuting out is the norm here: 3% of working residents work locally. In Coal Valley, the average commute is 20 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 8 miles away.
| Coal Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.9% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The biggest park or preserve is Niabi Zoological Preserve, at 219 acres. Across 2 parks and preserves: 0.1 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Niabi Zoological Preserve | 0.1 mi | 219 |
| 2. Coal Valley City Park | — | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 22% of residents (17% statewide). Coal Valley’s age of the median resident comes in at 45.3 years. Illinois has 38% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 35%.
| Coal Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 45.3 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 29% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.5 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Coal Valley | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.4% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 16.1% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.1% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.6% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.9% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.6% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.4% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.2% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.5% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,900, single groups can be off by several points
Coal Valley has cold, snowy winters and warm summers. Summer afternoons peak near 84° in July, and January nights bottom out around 15°; snowfall runs to about 36 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Since 1979, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Coal Valley. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in nearly three fifths of U.S. communities. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2019. FEMA puts 46% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A typical home in Coal Valley is worth about $272,000, up 4.3% in a year, 8% below the Illinois typical home. For households here, the share who live in a home they own is 93%. Bidding over the asking price: 40% of homes sold in the town.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Coal Valley. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Ancient siteRock Island Arsenal
7 mi MuseumBlack Hawk State Historic Sitein town Zoo & aquariumNiabi Zoo
9 mi MuseumFigge Art Museum77K visitors a year
11 mi MuseumPutnam Museum
10 mi GardenVander Veer Botanical ParkRock Island Arsenal: Robert A, Ryan, J. Ceronia, and Bruce A. Harms, Photographers, Public domain · Black Hawk State Historic Site: Bill Whittaker (talk). Original uploader was Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Figge Art Museum: Ctjf83, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Putnam Museum: Ctjf83 of English Wikipedia (log), Public domain · Vander Veer Botanical Park: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0
7 within 15 miles of the center of Coal Valley
About 4 of every 100 Coal Valley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
The village of Coal Valley is located in both Rock Island County and Henry County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,873 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 3,743 at the 2010 census. It is mostly residential, housing families who work in or out of the greater Quad Cities Area and is considered a suburb. The students of the Rock Island County part of Coal Valley attend the Moline-Coal Valley School District, and in the Henry County portion, Orion Community Unit School District 223 Oakwood Country Club, located in Coal Valley, was host of the Hardee's Golf Classic from 1986 through 1994. The tournament was later renamed to "John Deere Classic" once sponsorship was taken o…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Coal Valley.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal Valley | #296 | B+ | B− | A− | B− | A− |
| Moline | #612 | C | B | D | C+ | C+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Coal Valley grades B+ overall, better than 73% of U.S. towns and #296 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and B− for schools. Walkability 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 B−.
2 notable people were born here, including Moses E. Lewis and Kim Bridgford.
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