ForsythIL
A town of 3,613, established in 1854.
Is Forsyth a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Forsyth grades B+ overall, 329th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its schools rank ahead of 80% of Illinois towns. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $312K, 5 years of the Decatur metro’s $63K median household income. 59% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Forsyth, above both Illinois’ towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). Forsyth Park, at 114 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Forsyth stand out
Where Forsyth beats most towns.
How Forsyth grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Forsyth is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Forsyth: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Forsyth, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Forsyth.
Forsyth trades workers with Decatur and other neighbors and has less no health insurance than most of Illinois.
Forsyth earns an A for health
Its widest gap with Illinois is no health insurance: 4.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 9.9% statewide.
13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Forsyth. Forsyth beats the Illinois average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 9.2% of adults smoke cigarettes in Forsyth.
| Forsyth | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Forsyth | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Forsyth | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Forsyth Park | 1.1 mi | 114 |
| 2. Forsyth Pocket Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Forsyth has four seasons and pleasant summers
Forsyth has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 18° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About half of Forsyth’s working residents commute to Decatur
Forsyth has about as many jobs (1,627) as working residents, but only 72 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 17.7 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Forsyth for work: only 5% work in town. The average trip to work in Forsyth is 18 minutes. Jobs based in Forsyth fell to 1,627 in 2023, 267 fewer than in 2013.
| Forsyth | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $112,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.1% | 11% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Moderate risk in Forsyth, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1990, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Forsyth.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Forsyth earns a C− for cost of living
93% of Forsyth households own their home. Typical home values rose 4.8% in the year to September 2026.
| Forsyth | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,222 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Forsyth
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Forsyth
About 5 of every 100 Forsyth residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About Forsyth
Village in Macon County, Illinois
Forsyth is a village in Macon County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 3,734 at the 2020 census, up from 3,490 in 2010. It is included in the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 676 ft
- ZIP code
- 62535
Forsyth’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Forsyth.
Forsyth reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Forsyth with a neighbor →
Questions about Forsyth
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Forsyth, IL a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Forsyth grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #329 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Forsyth, IL expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.