Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dolton earns a D−, ranked 757th of 767 in Illinois, mostly because of schools and health. Its schools rank behind 93% of the state's. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 79% of the country. What it does well: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Dolton, above both Illinois’ towns (8.4%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 8 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on hazard risk. Dolton's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns.
Where Dolton beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Dolton’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 Dolton is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for hazard risk (better than 6%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 448 in 1880, 21,426 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 1964 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dolton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw11 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw17 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · 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 Dolton, 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 Dolton.
Dolton has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding) and has poverty well above the Illinois rate.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $773 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 294 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 36 properties have flooded more than once.
The FEMA risk score in Dolton is 92 of 100. Since 1981, 294 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dolton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 1.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $157K) costs less against local pay than in 88% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living. At about $157K, home values are up 14% in five years, against a rise of 30% across Illinois.
The typical Dolton home is worth about $157,000, up 4.9% in a year, 47% below the Illinois typical home. Dolton’s median rent is $1,384 a month.
| Dolton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,384 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
18% of adults have diabetes in Dolton. Dolton beats the Illinois average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 44% of adults have high blood pressure in Dolton.
| Dolton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 11% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 35% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Dolton | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5% | 7.6% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 13.5% | 17.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 19.2% | 7.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Dolton for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Dolton fell to 2,851 in 2023, 158 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Chicago (37%), South Holland (3%) and Harvey (2%).
| Dolton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Dolton has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.1 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Dolton Park, at 24 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dolton Park | — | 24 |
| 2. Beaubien Woods | — | 17 |
| 3. Needles Park | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
25 within 15 miles of the center of Dolton
About 9 of every 100 Dolton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
5 notable people were born in Dolton.
Village in Illinois, United States
Dolton () is a village and south suburb in Thornton Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,426 at the 2020 census. Dolton is located just west of the expressway Interstate 94 and immediately south of the city limits of Chicago. It is bordered by Chicago to the north, Riverdale and Harvey to the west, South Holland to the south, and Calumet City to the east.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Dolton.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolton | #757 | D− | C | — | D | C− |
| South Holland | #743 | D | C− | C− | D | C+ |
| Calumet City | #733 | D | C+ | — | D | C− |
| Harvey | #751 | D | B+ | D | D | D |
| Riverdale | #761 | D− | B− | — | D | D− |
| Chicago | #676 | C− | C− | D | C | B+ |
Dolton, Calumet City and Riverdale report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Dolton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dolton grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #757 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health and D for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 1.7 years of the area's median household income ($90,887 across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
5 notable people were born here, including Derek Needham and Perry Johnson.
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