Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Evanston’s standout strength is health: it is healthier than 96% of U.S. towns. The city ranks 419th of 767 in Illinois, with a B overall. Nationally, it does better than 58% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $492K, 5.4 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. Its National Register listings include Frances Willard House and Grosse Point Light Station. Only 85 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns score higher on civic life. 70% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more here, against 29% in Illinois’ towns and 29% across U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 59 places on the National Register.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Evanston beats most towns.
Frances Willard House| Widest gap | Evanston | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer smokers | 7.7% | 12.1% |
Frances Willard House is one of 3 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 59 National Register listings are more than in any other Illinois town with a listing.
Census counts: 4,400 in 1880, 78,110 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 6 maps from 1899 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Evanston is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Evanston. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw19 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw12 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearWrigley 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 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Evanston, 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 Evanston.
Evanston has less smoking than most of Illinois, has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more and pairs an A− for schools with high home prices.
Trails total 12 miles in 64 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Robert E. James Park, at 38 acres. Evanston’s trail network density stands at 1.5 miles per square mile.
| Evanston | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.8% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walter S. Lovelace Park | 1.1 mi | 17 |
| 2. Robert E. James Park | 0.8 mi | 38 |
| 3. Crown Park | 0.6 mi | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $492K.
Evanston CCSD 65 runs its public schools. Three of its 26 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The 6 public schools in Evanston teach 2,242 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haven Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 660 | B+ |
| Evanston Twp High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,560 | A |
| Orrington Elem SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 225 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $8,863, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
In Evanston, the going rate for rent is $1,762 a month. Values rose 8.6% in the 12 months to September 2026. For households locally, the share who are owner-occupiers is 56%.
| Evanston | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,762 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 46% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Illinois is smoking: 7.7% of its 63,704 adults smoke cigarettes, against 12.1% statewide.
In Evanston, 14% of adults report frequent mental distress. Among adults locally, 26% have obesity.
| Evanston | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.3% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 35% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.7% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Evanston | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer smokers | 7.7% | 12.1% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.3% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 2,458 to 1,863 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Evanston’s property offense rate comes in at 23.5 per 1,000 residents. Its violent offense rate stands at 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Evanston | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 23.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected losses in Evanston break down as 37% from inland flooding and 34% from cold waves. The risk rating from FEMA locally is 29 of 100. The national flood insurance program has paid 13 claims locally since 1978.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 19° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
28.5% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
12% of Evanston residents live below the poverty line. For most workers, Evanston is a place to come home to: only 18% work in town. The middle household income for Evanston comes to $96,000. The top destinations are Chicago (38%), Skokie (4%) and Northbrook (2%).
| Evanston | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 29% | 11% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $96,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
37 within 15 miles of the center of Evanston
College town 17 of every 100 Evanston residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 colleges in town.
59 places in Evanston on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Evanston.
City in Illinois, United States
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Evanston lies on Lake Michigan 12 miles (19 km) north of the Loop. A Chicago suburb, it is bordered by Wilmette to the north, Skokie to the west, Chicago to the south, and the lake to the east. Evanston had a population of 78,110 as of 2020. Founded by Methodist business leaders in 1857, the city was incorporated in 1863. Evanston is home to Northwestern University, founded in 1851 before the city's incorporation, one of the world's leading research universities. Known for its ethnically diverse population, Evanston is heavily shaped by the influence of Chicago, externally, and Northwestern, internally. The city and the university …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Evanston.
Chicago next door grades lower for schools (C to Evanston’s A−) and higher for cost of living (C− to D−).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evanston | #419 | B | D− | C− | A− | A+ |
| Skokie | #465 | B− | D | C− | B+ | A |
| Niles Township | #290 | B+ | D | — | A− | A |
| Wilmette | #67 | A | D− | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| New Trier Township | #45 | A+ | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Chicago | #676 | C− | C− | D | C | B+ |
Niles Township and New Trier Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Evanston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Evanston grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #419 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health, C− 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−.
48 notable people were born here, including John Cusack and Edmund Phelps.
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