Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,416, settled in 1875.
Glenwood is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, ranked 680th of 767 in Illinois, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 48% of U.S. towns. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $219K for a typical one and 2.4 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. Glenwood’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile, above both Illinois’ towns (0.3) and U.S. towns (0.4). Glenwood is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Glenwood Woods South, at 82 acres.
Where Glenwood beats most towns.
Where Glenwood’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Glenwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 581 in 1910, 8,662 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2021 and 8 maps from 1892 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Glenwood. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw17 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw23 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · 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 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Glenwood, 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 Glenwood.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Glenwood Woods South | 0.5 mi | 82 |
| 2. Veteran's Memorial Park | — | 52 |
| 3. Glenwood Woods North | 0.2 mi | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Glenwood for work: only 3% work in town. At 30 minutes, Glenwood’s average trip to work is above both the Illinois town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Jobs based in Glenwood fell to 2,105 in 2023, 333 fewer than in 2013.
| Glenwood | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.3% | 11% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Glenwood’s median rent is $1,493 a month. Typical home values rose 6% in the year to September 2026.
| Glenwood | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,493 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Crime runs higher than in most U.S. towns, but its C tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Thornton (C) comes closest. Reported crimes fell from 212 to 92 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Glenwood is 17.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Glenwood | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 17.5 per 1,000 residents | 9.3 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Glenwood has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Illinois average. 40% of Glenwood adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Glenwood has lost 3.4% of its people since 2020, down to 8,416 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Glenwood | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 43.5 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 19% | 18% |
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 61% are men (IL 50%).
| Glenwood | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.6% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.7% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.2% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.5% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.1% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.5% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 16.9% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 27.2% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.8% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.8% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.9% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 19 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Glenwood.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Glenwood beats the Illinois average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 43% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Glenwood.
| Glenwood | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 35% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 12% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Glenwood | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 14.4% | 17.8% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.3% | 7.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 13.9% | 7.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
12 within 15 miles of the center of Glenwood
About 5 of every 100 Glenwood residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Glenwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,662 at the 2020 census. It is a south suburb of Chicago.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Glenwood.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenwood | #680 | C− | C | C | C− | B− |
| Chicago Heights | #724 | D | B− | D− | C | C |
| Lynwood | #691 | D | C | — | C− | C |
| Homewood | #429 | B | C+ | C | B | A− |
| Thornton | — | — | B+ | C | D | A− |
Thornton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Lynwood reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Glenwood with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Glenwood grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #680 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B− for health, C for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
2 notable people were born here, including Tai Odiase and Derrick Walker.
_-_Chicago,_IL_-_June_2026.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}