Is Inverness a good place to live?
Few places in the country grade higher. Inverness earns an A+, 28th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, the median household earns $207K, and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 94% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $815K for a typical one and 9 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 69% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Inverness, against 29% in Illinois’ towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Only 105 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score higher on hazard risk. Inverness's schools rank ahead of 80% of Illinois towns.
What makes Inverness stand out
Where Inverness beats most towns.
98% of working residents leave Inverness for work
Where Inverness’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Inverness grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Inverness is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Wrigley Field and 153 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Inverness. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw35 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
13 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaUnited CenterPhoto credits
Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
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Moving to Inverness: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Inverness, 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 Inverness.
Inverness reports less crime than Barrington Hills or any other graded neighbor and has less utility shut-off threats than most of Illinois, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Illinois.
For cost of living, Inverness earns a D
At 9 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $815K) costs more against local pay than in 98% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 9.6% in the year to September 2026.
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Compared with most of Illinois and the rest of the country, fewer of Inverness’ adults have obesity
Its widest gap with Illinois is utility shut-off threats: 3.1% of its 6,064 adults were threatened with a utility shut-off, against 7.8% statewide. Against the 925 U.S. towns with household incomes like Inverness’s, it is healthier than 67%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
23% of Inverness adults have obesity. Inverness beats the Illinois average on 25 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 17% of Inverness adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Inverness | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6.6% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Inverness | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 3.1% | 7.8% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.2% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For safety, Inverness earns an A
Its A tops all 5 graded towns on its borders; Barrington Hills (A) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.1 per 1,000 residents.
Inverness’ property crime rate is 2.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Inverness | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.1 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
In Inverness, the median household income runs higher than in the typical Illinois or U.S. town
29.5% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
2.6% of residents live below the poverty line in Inverness. Most working residents leave Inverness for work: only 2% work in town. 30% of workers work from home in Inverness.
| Inverness | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 30% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $207,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.8% | 8.4% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Inverness has set aside 5.4% of its land for conservation
1.5 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is South Park, at 31 acres.
| Inverness | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. South Park | 0.5 mi | 31 |
| 2. North Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Inverness faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 20 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Inverness.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Inverness
Inverness has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 15° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Inverness
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Inverness
About 2 of every 100 Inverness residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Inverness
Village in Illinois, United States
Inverness is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 7,616.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1836
- Area
- 6.7 sq mi
- Area code
- 847
Inverness’s neighbors
7 towns share a border with Inverness.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inverness | #28 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Palatine | #194 | A− | D | B+ | A− | A |
| Hoffman Estates | #228 | A− | D | B | B+ | A |
| South Barrington | #41 | A+ | D | A− | A | A+ |
| Barrington Hills | #77 | A | D− | A | A | A |
| Palatine Township | #203 | A− | D | — | A− | A+ |
| Barrington | #16 | A+ | C− | A− | A | A+ |
| Barrington Township | #84 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
Palatine Township and Barrington Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Inverness with a neighbor →
Questions about Inverness
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Inverness, IL a good place to live?
Yes, by almost any measure. Inverness grades A+ overall, better than 97% of U.S. towns and #28 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.