Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Kankakee earns a D−, 765th among Illinois's 767 graded towns, mostly because of health and schools. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 95% of the country. Its schools rank behind 92% of the state's. In its favor, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 80% of U.S. towns. 26% of residents live below the poverty line in Kankakee, where Illinois’ towns sit at 8.4% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Only 66 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on hazard risk. Its National Register listings include Warren Hickox House and Kankakee State Hospital Historic District.
Where Kankakee beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 5,651 in 1880, 24,052 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 3 maps from 1922 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Kankakee is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kankakee, 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 Kankakee.
Kankakee carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding), but it has poverty well above the Illinois rate.
Nearly a third of adults in Kankakee worry about having enough food; 17% have diabetes. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Kankakee is ahead of Illinois on 1 and behind on 23.
| Kankakee | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 35% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 11% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Kankakee | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.6% | 7.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.6% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
51% of Kankakee households are owner-occupiers. Home values are up 4.4% over the year to September 2026. A home in Kankakee typically sold within 64 days of listing.
| Kankakee | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,023 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $507 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
For Kankakee, the FEMA hazard score is 80 of 100. The national flood insurance program has paid 59 claims locally since 1978. FEMA puts just over two thirds of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 16% to cold waves. Federal aid has come to Kankakee households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2004.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The biggest park or preserve is River Road Park, at 251 acres. 5.2 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Kankakee: 25, covering 659 acres.
| Kankakee | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Small Memorial Park | 1.2 mi | 26 |
| 2. Bird Park | 0.6 mi | 31 |
| 3. River Road Park | 0.5 mi | 251 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Summer afternoons peak near 85° in July, and January nights bottom out around 17°; snowfall runs to about 21 inches a winter. Kankakee has chilly winters and warm summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Kankakee’s middle household income stands at $48,000. Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Kankakee itself. The share of workers in Kankakee who work remotely from home: 4.7%. Jobs in the town fell by 1,443 from 2013 to 2023, to 13,852.
| Kankakee | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $48,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 4.7% | 11% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Kankakee
About 4 of every 100 Kankakee residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
10 places in Kankakee on the National Register of Historic Places.
34 notable people were born in Kankakee.
City in Illinois, United States
Kankakee ( KANG-kə-KEE) is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Kankakee River, as of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. It serves as an anchor city in the rural plains outside Chicago.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Kankakee.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kankakee · Kankakee Township | #765 | D− | B− | — | D | D |
| Bradley | #633 | C− | C+ | C− | C+ | C+ |
| Aroma Township | #745 | D | B− | — | D− | C+ |
Kankakee and Aroma Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Kankakee Township and Kankakee are one community, graded once. Compare Kankakee with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Kankakee grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #765 of 767 in Illinois. It grades D for health and D for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.2 years of the area's median household income ($71,281 across the Kankakee, IL 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 B−.
34 notable people were born here, including Fred MacMurray and Adam Kinzinger.
