Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Du Quoin gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $113K for a typical one, or 1.8 years of the county’s $62K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 556th of 767 in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $54K, and 30% of residents live below the poverty line, and residents are less healthy than 91% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 1 place on the National Register. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Du Quoin, against 8.4% in Illinois’ towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Only 92 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score higher on history.
Where Du Quoin beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Du Quoin is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,807 in 1880, 5,827 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1904 and 2 maps from 1926 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Du Quoin, 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 Du Quoin.
Du Quoin trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, trades workers with Carbondale and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Illinois’s.
Homes are within reach (about $113K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 20 miles. At 1.8 years of the county’s $62K median household income, the typical home (about $113K) costs less against local pay than in 85% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
Du Quoin’s median rent is $719 a month. Typical home values rose 4.7% in the year to September 2026. 66% of Du Quoin households own their home.
| Du Quoin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $719 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by Du Quoin CUSD 300. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Du Quoin High School, with 397 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Du Quoin Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 556 | B− |
| Du Quoin High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 397 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Du Quoin. Du Quoin beats the Illinois average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 23. 26% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Du Quoin.
| Du Quoin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Du Quoin | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 78.4% | 75.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.9% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Du Quoin since 2022.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 12.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 54% of Illinois’s graded towns.
The property crime rate in Du Quoin is 2.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Du Quoin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Du Quoin has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 24° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Du Quoin has about as many jobs (1,920) as working residents, but only 445 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 20.3 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 5 of Du Quoin’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Carbondale (8%), Mount Vernon (6%) and Pinckneyville (5%).
| Du Quoin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Just 7 of its 4,501 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Du Quoin itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.7 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Du Quoin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Keys Park | 0.7 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Du Quoin; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Du Quoin residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
12 notable people were born in Du Quoin.
City in Illinois, United States
Du Quoin ( doo-KOYN) is a city in Perry County, Illinois, United States. Its name reflects an alternate spelling of the surname of Jean Baptiste de Coigne, a chief of the Tamaroa and later Kaskaskia indigenous people of the area during the American Revolutionary War and early statehood. As of the 2020 census, Du Quoin had a population of 5,827. It is best known for hosting the annual DuQuoin State Fair and the Street Machine Nationals.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Du Quoin.
St. Johns isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Du Quoin with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Du Quoin grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #556 of 767 in Illinois. It grades D for health, B+ for safety and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
12 notable people were born here, including Ken Swofford and Billie Hayes.
