Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Elmhurst is one of the best-graded places in America: an A, ranked 93rd of 767 in Illinois. Residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, the median household earns $150K, and its schools outperform 84% of the state's. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $635K for a typical one and 7 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 64% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Elmhurst, against 29% in Illinois’ towns and 29% across U.S. towns. On walkability, just 28 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns do better. Elmhurst is home to Elmhurst University.
Where Elmhurst beats most towns.
Census counts: 329 in 1870, 45,786 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 8 maps from 1891 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Elmhurst is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Elmhurst. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw20 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
8 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate ArenaWrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Elmhurst, 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 Elmhurst.
Elmhurst reports less crime than Berkeley or any other graded neighbor and draws workers from Chicago and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Illinois.
At 7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $635K) costs more against local pay than in 95% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $9,466, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Elmhurst’s median rent is $1,975 a month. Typical home values rose 8.8% in the year to September 2026.
| Elmhurst | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,975 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 80% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 7.3% of its 34,316 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
9.4% of adults report frequent physical distress in Elmhurst. Elmhurst beats the Illinois average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Elmhurst.
| Elmhurst | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Elmhurst | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
30,560 jobs are based in Elmhurst, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 26.5% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Elmhurst for work: only 11% work in town. 27% of Elmhurst workers work from home. Jobs based in Elmhurst grew to 30,560 in 2023, 3,975 more than in 2013.
| Elmhurst | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 27% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $150,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.3% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
7.0 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Berens Park, 63 acres with 2 miles of trail. The trail density in Elmhurst is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Elmhurst | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Berens Park | 2 mi | 63 |
| 2. Wilder Park | 1.2 mi | 22 |
| 3. Butterfield Park | 0.9 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− tops all 4 graded towns on its borders; Berkeley (B+) comes closest. Reported crimes fell from 431 to 350 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Elmhurst 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
248 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 17 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 62% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 248 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Elmhurst.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
26 within 15 miles of the center of Elmhurst
About 7 of every 100 Elmhurst residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
6 places in Elmhurst on the National Register of Historic Places.
51 notable people were born in Elmhurst.
City in Illinois, United States
Elmhurst is a city in DuPage and Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Elmhurst.
It grades higher overall than all 7 graded towns on its borders; York Township (A−) comes closest. Addison next door grades lower for schools (C+ to Elmhurst’s A−) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmhurst | #93 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Villa Park | #292 | B+ | C | B− | B | A |
| Oakbrook Terrace | #321 | B+ | D | — | B | A |
| Addison | #430 | B | C | B | C+ | B |
| York Township | #220 | A− | D | — | B+ | A |
| Proviso Township | #512 | C+ | C | — | C | B+ |
| Berkeley | #561 | C+ | C− | B+ | C− | B |
| Northlake | #574 | C | C+ | B− | C− | B− |
Oakbrook Terrace, York Township and Proviso Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Elmhurst with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Elmhurst grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #93 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health, A− 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.
51 notable people were born here, including Fred Ramsdell and Jeff Hornacek.
_-_Chicago,_IL_-_June_2026.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}