Lafayette TownshipIL
A town of 4,678.
Is Lafayette Township a good place to live?
Lafayette Township grades D overall, 686th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, mostly because of schools. Its public schools trail 76% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. One bright spot: the median household earns $69K. Only 108 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on history. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. 23% of residents are 65 or older in Lafayette Township, above both the Illinois town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%).
What makes Lafayette Township stand out
Where Lafayette Township beats most towns.
Every workday, about 4,414 people come to Lafayette Township for work
Where Lafayette Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Lafayette Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Lafayette Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Lafayette Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lafayette Township, 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 Lafayette Township.
About one in three of Lafayette Township’s working residents commute to Mattoon
4,637 jobs are based in Lafayette Township, 2.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 21.6 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Lafayette Township for work: only 12% work in town. Since 2013, Lafayette Township has added 1,718 jobs, to 4,637 in 2023. Lafayette Township’s average trip to work is 22 minutes.
| Lafayette Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 8.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lafayette Township earns a C− for schools
One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Johns Lutheran School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–9 | Grades PK–9 | 457 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Conserved land covers 0.5% of Lafayette Township
10 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Douglas Hart Nature Center, 68 acres with 1.5 miles of trail.
| Lafayette Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 3.7% | 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. Douglas Hart Nature Center | 1.5 mi | 68 |
| 2. Peterson Park | — | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
On CDC estimates, Lafayette Township is less healthy than 68% of U.S. towns
Lafayette Township beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 16% of adults smoke cigarettes in Lafayette Township.
| Lafayette Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Lafayette Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.5% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 16.3% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lafayette Township faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lafayette Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Lafayette Township, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Lafayette Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 20° and about 15 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Older than Illinois overall
People 65 and older are 23% of residents (17% statewide). The median age in Lafayette Township is 44.9 years. 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Lafayette Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 44.9 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 29% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 78% are women (IL 50%).
| Lafayette Township | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.8% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.6% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.3% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.4% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.7% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.3% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 18.2% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 20.9% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.7% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.3% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,700, single groups can be off by several points
Everything we know about Lafayette Township
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Lafayette Township
About 5 of every 100 Lafayette Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About Lafayette Township
Township in Illinois, United States
Lafayette Township is one of twelve townships in Coles County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,765 and it contained 2,240 housing units. The Coles County Memorial Airport is located in this township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 705 ft
Lafayette Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Lafayette Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette Township | #686 | D | B− | — | C− | C |
| Humboldt Township | — | — | A | — | B− | C+ |
| Mattoon · Mattoon Township | #638 | C− | B+ | C | B− | C− |
| Pleasant Grove Township | — | — | B− | — | C− | B |
| Charleston Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Humboldt Township and Pleasant Grove Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Lafayette Township, Humboldt Township and Pleasant Grove Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Charleston Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Mattoon Township and Mattoon are one community, graded once. Compare Lafayette Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Lafayette Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lafayette Township, IL a good place to live?
Lafayette Township grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #686 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C for health and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Lafayette Township, IL expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.