Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Eldorado gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $72K for a typical one, or 1.3 years of the county’s $53K median household income. It grades C overall, 616th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 81% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Eldorado’s violent crime rate is 7.6 per 1,000 residents, where Illinois’ towns sit at 1 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Only 4 of the 458 Illinois towns we compare have a lower typical home value than Eldorado. Eldorado City Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Eldorado beats most towns.
Eldorado City HallEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Eldorado is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,445 in 1900, a peak of 5,198 in 1980, 3,743 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1937 and 2 maps from 1905 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Eldorado, 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 Eldorado.
Eldorado trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it reports violent crime at 3 times the Illinois rate and carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly earthquakes).
Homes are within reach (about $72K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 26 miles. At 1.3 years of the county’s $53K median household income, the typical home (about $72K) costs less against local pay than in 97% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The median rent in Eldorado is $657 a month. Typical home values fell 8.8% in the year to September 2026. 62% of Eldorado households own their home.
| Eldorado | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $657 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 62% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 1,664 U.S. towns with household incomes like Eldorado’s, it is healthier than 62%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Eldorado. Eldorado beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 25% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Eldorado.
| Eldorado | 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) | 25% | 18% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Eldorado | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.3% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.5% | 6.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9.3% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $485 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 2014, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Eldorado.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Violent crime runs at 7.6 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the Illinois rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C. Reported crimes rose from 30 to 88 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Eldorado’s property crime rate is 17.2 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Eldorado has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 25° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Eldorado has about as many jobs (1,544) as working residents, but only 302 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Eldorado’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Eldorado has added 274 jobs, to 1,544 in 2023. Only 5 of the 768 Illinois towns we compare have a lower median household income than Eldorado.
| Eldorado | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $37,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Eldorado | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 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. Mahoney Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Eldorado
About 2 of every 100 Eldorado residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
6 notable people were born in Eldorado.
City in Illinois, United States
Eldorado () is a city in Saline County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Eldorado had a population of 3,743. The population peaked in 1980 at 5,198. Although the city's name is spelled as if it were Spanish, the name was originally "Eldereado" or "Elder-Reado" (depending on the source)—a combination of the last names of the town's two founders, Judge Samuel Elder, his son William, grandson Francis Marion, and neighbor Joseph Read, and his brother William. According to legend, a signpainter for the railroad painted the name "Eldorado" on the train depot; as a result, the spelling and pronunciation (el-do-RAY-doh) was forever changed. Eldorado is included in the Illinois–Indian…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Eldorado grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #616 of 767 in Illinois. It grades D for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
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 A.
6 notable people were born here, including David D. Phelps and Kendall Rhine.
