GridleyIL
A town of 1,428, settled in 1857.
Is Gridley a good place to live?
The best of Gridley’s subject grades are an A for cost of living and health and an A− for civic life; the weakest is a C for walkability. Gridley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Gridley stand out
Where Gridley beats most towns.
1,428 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Gridley grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Gridley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Gridley: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gridley, 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 Gridley.
Gridley is healthier than 89% of U.S. towns
The share of adults in Gridley who smoke cigarettes: 11%. Against the Illinois average, Gridley comes out ahead on 11 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. 18% of Gridley adults get no exercise outside work, against 23% in Illinois’ towns and 25% across U.S. towns. Among adults locally, 32% sleep under 7 hours and 11% report frequent physical distress.
| Gridley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 23% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Gridley | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.2% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.3% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Gridley’s workers commute out: the town has 0.5 jobs for each of them
Among residents in Gridley, 5.7% live below the poverty line. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 2% of working residents work locally. Also worth knowing: between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Gridley dropped by 74, to 331. The median household income locally is $67,000.
| Gridley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 13% | 11% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Zillow puts the typical Gridley home at about $213K
Gridley’s rent at the middle of the market comes in at $808 a month. Typical home values rose 3.5% in the year to September 2026. 72% of Gridley households are owner-occupiers, below the Illinois town median (75%) and near the median of U.S. towns (73%).
| Gridley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $808 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Four seasons and pleasant summers: that is Gridley’s year
In July, afternoons reach 85°; in January, nights fall to 16°, and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer middle-aged adults than Illinois overall
Adults 35 to 64 are nearly a third of residents (39% statewide); children under 18 are 26% of residents (22% statewide). For residents in Gridley, the share who are 65 or older is 20%. Illinois has 38% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 28%. In Gridley, the age of the median resident is 37.6 years.
| Gridley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 26% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.6 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.1 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Gridley | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.2% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.6% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.7% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.8% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.2% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.7% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.4% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,400, single groups can be off by several points
The biggest natural risk in Gridley is inland flooding, at a high overall level
Of the losses FEMA expects in Gridley, 47% come from inland flooding and 25% from cold waves. On expected storm and flood damage, Gridley sits above 64% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Gridley households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2006.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0% of Gridley is conserved land
There are 0.5 miles of trail across 1 park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Gridley: one, of 10 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Westview Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Gridley
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Gridley; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Gridley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
98% of working residents leave Gridley for work
Where Gridley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Gridley
Village in Illinois, United States
Gridley is a village in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,456 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Gridley was founded in 1869 and named after General Asahel Gridley, a noted early Republican, land investor, political backer and client of Abraham Lincoln, and a descendant of a Colonel Gridley who served at the Battle of Lexington.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1869
- Area
- 1.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 754 ft
- ZIP code
- 61744
Questions about Gridley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Gridley, IL expensive?
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.
What is Gridley, IL known for?
2 notable people were born here, including Helen F. Holt and Wilbur J. Cash.