Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hazel Crest earns a D, 739th among Illinois's 767 graded towns, mostly because of safety and schools. Its police reported 46 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 88% of U.S. towns. Its schools rank behind 84% of the state's. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Hazel Crest, above both the Illinois town median (8.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%).
Where Hazel Crest beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Hazel Crest is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for safety (better than 12%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 438 in 1920, 13,382 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1960 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hazel Crest. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw16 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw21 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 Hazel Crest, 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 Hazel Crest.
Hazel Crest has homes that are cheap against local pay and trades workers with Chicago and other neighbors, but it has poverty well above the Illinois rate.
Reported crimes fell from 444 to 340 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Hazel Crest’s property crime rate is 22.7 per 1,000 residents. Hazel Crest reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 88% report less. Hazel Crest’s violent crime rate is 3.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Hazel Crest | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Hazel Crest | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. James O. Setnes Sports Complex | 0.1 mi | 17 |
| 2. Oak Hill Park | — | 17 |
| 3. Stone Hollow Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 2 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $183K) costs less against local pay than in 79% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical Hazel Crest home is worth about $183,000, up 4.2% in a year, 38% below the Illinois typical home. The median rent in Hazel Crest is $1,320 a month.
| Hazel Crest | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,320 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 79% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 29 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hazel Crest.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Hazel Crest 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
Hazel Crest has about as many jobs (4,312) as working residents, but only 120 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Hazel Crest for work: only 2% work in town. Jobs based in Hazel Crest grew to 4,312 in 2023, 406 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Chicago (31%), Homewood (2%) and Matteson (2%).
| Hazel Crest | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
44% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Hazel Crest. Only 9 of the 767 Illinois towns we compare have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Hazel Crest. 27% of adults get no exercise outside work in Hazel Crest.
| Hazel Crest | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 35% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 12% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Hazel Crest | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.7% | 7.6% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 13.7% | 17.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.3% | 7.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
14 within 15 miles of the center of Hazel Crest
About 5 of every 100 Hazel Crest residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
3 notable people were born in Hazel Crest.
Village in Illinois, United States
Hazel Crest is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,382 at the 2020 census. It is a south suburb of Chicago.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Hazel Crest.
Flossmoor next door grades higher for schools (B to Hazel Crest’s C−) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Crest | #739 | D | C+ | D | C− | C+ |
| Homewood | #429 | B | C+ | C | B | A− |
| Country Club Hills | #725 | D | C− | C− | C− | B− |
| Markham | #732 | D | C+ | — | C− | C− |
| Flossmoor | #456 | B− | D | C | B | A |
| Harvey | #751 | D | B+ | D | D | D |
| East Hazel Crest | — | — | B− | D | D | B− |
East Hazel Crest has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Markham reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Hazel Crest with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hazel Crest grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #739 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2 years of the area's median household income ($90,887 across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Maurice Acker and Marquice Cole.
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