Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 152,241, Joliet does unevenly: it grades C−, ranked 667th of 767 in Illinois. The median household earns $92K. The trade-off: its public schools trail 85% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. Its National Register listings include Joliet Township High School and Rubens Rialto Square Theater. On civic life, just 95 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns do worse. Joliet is home to Joliet Junior College.
Where Joliet beats most towns.
Rubens Rialto Square Theater
Mercedes McCambridge
Its 14 National Register listings are more than in 94% of Illinois towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,558 in 1840, 150,362 in 2020. The archive holds 13 old photos and papers going back to 1863 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Joliet is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Joliet, 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 Joliet.
Joliet reports more crime than New Lenox and its other graded neighbors, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims and trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Most working residents leave Joliet for work: only 16% work in town. Joliet’s average trip to work is 29 minutes, where Illinois’ towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The top destinations are Chicago (12%), Bolingbrook (4%) and Naperville (4%).
| Joliet | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.8% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $92,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from New Lenox (B+) to Rockdale (A).
Joliet’s violent crime rate is 3.4 per 1,000 residents, above both Illinois’ towns (1) and U.S. towns (1.6).
| Joliet | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Joliet has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 16° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
11 miles of trail in 69 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Pilcher Park, at 422 acres.
| Joliet | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Higginbotham Woods | 0.8 mi | 232 |
| 2. Nowell Park | 0.5 mi | 26 |
| 3. Garnsey Park | 0.4 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 9,691 U.S. towns with household incomes like Joliet’s, it is less healthy than 78%, so it trails even them.
Joliet beats the Illinois average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 14% of Joliet adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Joliet | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 35% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Joliet | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.9% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.2% | 5.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.8% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Joliet home is worth about $268,000, up 1.3% in a year, 10% below the Illinois typical home.
| Joliet | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 52% | 46% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,276 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
630 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 24 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 630 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Joliet.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Joliet. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw35 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw37 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
3 within 15 miles of the center of Joliet
About 6 of every 100 Joliet residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
2 colleges in town.
14 places in Joliet on the National Register of Historic Places.
47 notable people were born in Joliet.
City in Illinois, United States
Joliet ( JOH-lee-et, -ET) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago, it is the county seat of Will County. Originally settled in 1852 as a steel mill town on the Des Plaines River, Joliet later became known for being the first major city outside of Chicago on U.S. Route 66. It is home to Old Joliet Prison, a historic decommissioned correctional facility that was the largest in the state at the time of its construction. The prison has been featured prominently in several films and television shows, including the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. As of the 2020 census, the population was 150,362, making it the third-most p…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Joliet.
Plainfield next door grades higher for schools (B+ to Joliet’s C−) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joliet | #667 | C− | C+ | C | C− | C+ |
| Ridgewood | #748 | D | C+ | — | C− | D |
| Preston Heights | — | — | B+ | — | C− | C− |
| Crystal Lawns | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Ingalls Park | #711 | D | C+ | — | C− | C− |
| Plainfield | #183 | A− | D | A− | B+ | A |
| New Lenox | #87 | A | C− | B+ | A− | A |
| Rockdale | — | — | B− | A | C | D |
Preston Heights, Crystal Lawns and Rockdale have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ridgewood, Preston Heights, Crystal Lawns and Ingalls Park report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Joliet with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Joliet grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #667 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C+ 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+.
47 notable people were born here, including Mercedes McCambridge and George Mikan.
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