Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
El Paso gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $191K, 2.7 years of the Peoria metro’s $72K median household income. It grades A− overall, ranked 271st of 767 in Illinois. Its National Register listings include El Paso Public Library. 18% of working residents work locally in El Paso, where Illinois’ towns sit at 8.3% and U.S. towns at 8%. The biggest park or preserve is South Pointe Park, at 46 acres.
Where El Paso beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far El Paso is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 890 in 1860, 2,756 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 4 maps from 1927 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in El Paso, 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 El Paso.
El Paso pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Illinois norm and trades workers with Bloomington and other neighbors.
| El Paso | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jefferson Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
| 2. South Pointe Park | 0.1 mi | 46 |
| 3. Franklin Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
El Paso grades A− overall with a typical home of about $191K, below the Illinois typical value; only 48 of the 183 Illinois towns graded A− or better can say that.
The median rent in El Paso is $881 a month. The typical El Paso home is worth about $191,000, up 3.9% in a year, 36% below the Illinois typical home.
| El Paso | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $881 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
El Paso has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 16° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
El Paso has about as many jobs (1,310) as working residents, but only 225 people both live and work here.
7.4% of El Paso workers work from home. The top destinations are Bloomington (21%), Normal (10%) and Peoria (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.
| El Paso | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7.4% | 11% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $76,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
El Paso beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 40% of adults have obesity in El Paso.
| El Paso | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | El Paso | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.6% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.5% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 15.8% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around El Paso. Close and well known come first.
38 mi Zoo & aquariumWildlife Prairie Park29 mi Zoo & aquariumPeoria Zoo
16 mi GardenFell Arboretum18 mi MuseumPrairie Aviation Museum
18 mi MuseumAdlai E. Stevenson I HouseWildlife Prairie Park: Katherine Johnson, CC BY 2.0 · Fell Arboretum: Willjay, CC BY 3.0 · Adlai E. Stevenson I House: Nyttend, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of El Paso
About 3 of every 100 El Paso residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 places in El Paso on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in El Paso.
City in Illinois, United States
El Paso (Spanish for 'The Step') is a city in Woodford and McLean counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 2,756 at the 2020 census. The Woodford County portion of El Paso is part of the Peoria metropolitan area. El Paso is a city in central Illinois. After the construction of Interstate 39, which replaced the former alignment of U.S. Highway 51 through the area, the city’s development patterns shifted toward highway-oriented transportation infrastructure. Interstate 39 in Illinois was completed on October 31, 1992, with the final segment between Kappa and Illinois Route 116 near El Paso. The city's strategic location at the intersection of the Illinois Central Railroad an…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. El Paso grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #271 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C+ for health and B+ for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
4 notable people were born here, including Fulton J. Sheen and Byron Keith.
