Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lewistown Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $115K, 1.9 years of the Canton area’s $61K median household income. It grades C overall, ranked 591st of 767 in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its schools rank behind 86% of the state's, and the median household income is $69K, and 8% of residents live below the poverty line. Lewistown Township’s average trip to work is 35 minutes, above both Illinois’ towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Lewistown Township has 1 place on the National Register. Among 748 Illinois towns, just 8 have a lower median rent than Lewistown Township.
Where Lewistown Township beats most towns.
St. James Episcopal Church3,039 counted in 2010 and 2,671 in 2020; an estimated 2,562 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 3.9% since 2020, after 12.1% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Lewistown Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,771 in 1880, a peak of 2,758 in 1980, 2,041 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1879 and 3 maps from 1925 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lewistown 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Lewistown Township.
Its public schools are run by Lewistown CUSD 97. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 326 | C |
| Lewistown Jr/Sr High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 262 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Lewistown Township for work: only 15% work in town. Jobs based in Lewistown Township fell to 578 in 2023, 137 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Lewistown (15%), Canton (14%) and Peoria (9%).
| Lewistown Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lewistown Township beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 41% of adults have high blood pressure in Lewistown Township.
| Lewistown Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lewistown Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.7% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.7% | 13.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.1% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lewistown Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 17° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lewistown Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ratcliff Park | — | 17 |
| 2. Higgins Field | — | 6 |
| 3. Ross Mansion Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lewistown Township
About 2 of every 100 Lewistown Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Lewistown Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Fulton County, Illinois
Lewistown is a city and the county seat of Fulton County, Illinois, United States. It was named by its founder, Ossian M. Ross, after his oldest son, Lewis Winans Ross. The population was 2,041 at the 2020 census. Located in central Illinois, it is southwest of Peoria. It is the source of Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, who lived there. Native American burial mounds are nearby at Dickson Mounds off Illinois Route 97.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Lewistown Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewistown Township | #591 | C | A | — | D | C |
| Liverpool Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Waterford Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Putman Township | — | — | A− | — | C− | C− |
| Bernadotte Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Putman Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Lewistown Township and Putman Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Liverpool Township, Waterford Township and Bernadotte Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lewistown Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lewistown Township grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #591 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.