Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Downers Grove earns an A, 98th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 95% of the country, the median household earns $115K, and its public schools beat 86% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $503K, 5.5 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 58% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Downers Grove, where Illinois’ towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%. Downers Grove is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. Downers Grove is home to Midwestern University-Downers Grove.
Where Downers Grove beats most towns.
Census counts: 586 in 1880, 50,247 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1950 and 5 maps from 1954 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 Downers Grove is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 11%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Downers Grove. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw22 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw21 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 Downers Grove, 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 Downers Grove.
Downers Grove draws workers from Chicago and beyond and has less food insecurity than most of Illinois, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Downers Grove’s median rent is $1,656 a month. Typical home values rose 6% in the year to September 2026.
| Downers Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,656 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
13 miles of trail in 42 parks and preserves. The trail density in Downers Grove is 0.9 miles per square mile. Hidden Lake Forest Preserve, at 329 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Belmont Prairie Nature Preserve | 1.3 mi | 30 |
| 2. Hidden Lake Forest Preserve | 1.1 mi | 329 |
| 3. McCollum Park | 1.1 mi | 47 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 8.2% of its 39,457 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
13% of Downers Grove adults report frequent mental distress. Downers Grove beats the Illinois average on 18 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 10% of Downers Grove adults report frequent physical distress.
| Downers Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 13% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 22% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Downers Grove | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.2% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.2% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
53,488 jobs are based in Downers Grove, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Downers Grove for work: only 11% work in town. 24% of workers work from home in Downers Grove. Jobs based in Downers Grove grew to 53,488 in 2023, 7,024 more than in 2013.
| Downers Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 24% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $115,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 40 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Downers Grove has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 16° and about 42 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
102 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 102 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Downers Grove.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
16 within 15 miles of the center of Downers Grove
About 6 of every 100 Downers Grove residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
39 notable people were born in Downers Grove.
Village in Illinois, United States
Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Per the 2020 census, the population of the village was 50,248. It is a west-southwestern suburb of Chicago located between I-88 and I-55.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Downers Grove.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downers Grove | #98 | A | D | B+ | A | A |
| Westmont | #148 | A | D | B | A | A |
| Darien | #75 | A | D | A− | A | A |
| Woodridge | #100 | A | D | A− | A− | A |
| Lisle | #20 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
| Downers Grove Township | #82 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Lisle Township | #71 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Lombard | #325 | B+ | D | B− | B+ | A |
Downers Grove Township and Lisle Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Downers Grove with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Downers Grove grades A overall, better than 92% of U.S. towns and #98 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
39 notable people were born here, including Denise Richards and Eric Lichaj.
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