De Soto TownshipIL
A town of 2,276, settled in 1854.
Is De Soto Township a good place to live?
De Soto Township’s weakest subject grade is a D for hazard risk. On hazard risk, just 49 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse. De Soto Township’s average trip to work is 17 minutes, below both the Illinois town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On civic life, just 51 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns do worse. De Soto Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
97% of working residents leave De Soto Township for work
Where De Soto Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How De Soto Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far De Soto Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to De Soto Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in De Soto 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in De Soto Township.
De Soto Township faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by earthquakes
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 2008, 28 flood insurance claims have been paid out in De Soto Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools in De Soto Township fall behind 62% of Illinois districts
Its public schools are run by DeSoto Consolidated SD 86. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeSoto Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 198 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
De Soto Township has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave De Soto Township for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in De Soto Township fell to 240 in 2023, 172 fewer than in 2013. 12% of De Soto Township residents live below the poverty line, against 8.4% in Illinois’ towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns.
| De Soto Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.8% | 11% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Health in De Soto Township trails 71% of U.S. towns
De Soto Township beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 42% of De Soto Township adults have obesity.
| De Soto Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | De Soto Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.6% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.2% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 17% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and hot summers in De Soto Township
De Soto Township has chilly winters and warm summers. De Soto Township’s July high is 88°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| De Soto Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Burning Star State Fish and Wildlife Area | 1.2 mi | 2,302 |
| 2. De Soto - Recreation Complex | — | 10 |
| 3. Senior Citizens Park & Gazebo | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about De Soto Township
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of De Soto Township
About 5 of every 100 De Soto Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About De Soto Township
Village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States
De Soto is a village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,407 at the 2020 census. It is named for Hernando de Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1854
- Area
- 0.9 sq mi
- ZIP code
- 62924
De Soto Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with De Soto Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Soto Township | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | C |
| Elk Township | — | — | A | — | B | C− |
| Carbondale Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Somerset Township | #764 | D− | C− | — | C | C− |
| Hurst | — | — | — | — | — | — |
De Soto Township and Elk Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. De Soto Township, Elk Township and Somerset Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Carbondale Township and Hurst aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare De Soto Township with a neighbor →
Questions about De Soto Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is De Soto Township, IL expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.