Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fairbury gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $200K, 2.7 years of the Pontiac area’s $74K median household income. It grades A overall, ranked 154th of 767 in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 82% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. Fairbury’s average trip to work is 15 minutes, against 26 minutes in Illinois’ towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Fairbury has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Thomas A. Beach House and Fairbury City Hall. Among 357 Illinois towns, just 3 have a lower property crime rate than Fairbury.
Where Fairbury beats most towns.
Thomas A. Beach HouseEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Fairbury is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 269 in 1860, 3,633 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and a map from 1986 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fairbury, 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 Fairbury.
Fairbury pairs an A overall with homes cheaper than the Illinois norm, but it is a long drive from an emergency room and carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding).
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Illinois towns; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1981, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fairbury.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fairbury grades A overall with a typical home of about $200K, below the Illinois typical value; only 48 of the 183 Illinois towns graded A− or better can say that. Home values rose 52% in five years, to about $200K, against 30% across Illinois.
Fairbury’s median rent is $776 a month. Typical home values rose 10% in the year to September 2026.
| Fairbury | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $776 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 35 to 64 are 27% of residents (39% statewide); children under 18 are 29% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Fairbury is 33.5 years. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Fairbury | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.5 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.2 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Fairbury | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 17.2% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.7% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.3% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.4% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.2% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.5% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.4% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.6% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.8% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.5% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,600, single groups can be off by several points
Fairbury has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 17° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The nearest emergency room, Gibson Community Hospital, is 20 miles away in a straight line. Against the 10,586 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fairbury’s, it is healthier than 80%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Fairbury beats the Illinois average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 33% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Fairbury.
| Fairbury | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 37% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fairbury | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.2% | 13.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.2% | 15.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.6% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 1,726 working residents takes 15.1 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Fairbury for work: only 18% work in town. 2.1% of Fairbury residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Pontiac (11%), Bloomington (7%) and Normal (4%).
| Fairbury | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.1% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fairbury's reported crime rate is well below Illinois's. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is North Park, at 22 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. North Park | — | 22 |
| 2. Marsh Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Fairbury; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Fairbury residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 places in Fairbury on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Fairbury.
City in Illinois, United States
Fairbury is a city in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 census. Fairbury is located on U.S. Route 24 11 miles east of Chenoa and six miles west of Forrest. It was founded in 1857. The town has a large population of members of the Apostolic Christian faith, who first settled in the area in 1864.
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. Fairbury grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #154 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk 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−.
3 notable people were born here, including Francis Townsend and Skottie Young.
