Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,079, settled in 1836.
Lexington’s best subject grades are an A+ for safety and an A for cost of living and civic life. On safety, just 9 of Illinois’ 405 towns do better. Lexington's public schools beat 69% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. Lexington has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them David Hyatt Van Dolah House. Lexington has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Lexington beats most towns.
Where Lexington’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Lexington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,254 in 1880, 2,090 in 2020. The archive holds 13 old photos and papers going back to 1973 and 3 maps from 1926 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lexington, 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 Lexington.
Lexington reports less crime per resident than 99% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade. At 1 per 1,000 residents, Lexington’s property crime rate is where Illinois’ towns sit at 7.9 and U.S. towns at 9.9. The violent crime rate in Lexington is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Lexington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Lexington for work: only 6% work in town. At 30 minutes, Lexington’s average trip to work is above both the Illinois town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Lexington has added 196 jobs, to 442 in 2023.
| Lexington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $99,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.1% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lexington beats the Illinois average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 19% of adults binge drink in Lexington.
| Lexington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 23% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Lexington | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.8% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.4% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lexington has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 17° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Lexington home is worth about $240,000, up 2% in a year, 19% below the Illinois typical home. Lexington’s median rent is $728 a month.
| Lexington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 91% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $728 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Illinois average. 25% of Lexington residents are under 18. 34% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Lexington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.1 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Lexington | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.9% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.4% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.7% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.7% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.2% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.8% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.3% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.9% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.2% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,100, single groups can be off by several points
1.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Keller Park, at 36 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Keller Park | 0.8 mi | 36 |
| 2. Lexington Preserve | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lexington. Close and well known come first.
15 mi GardenFell Arboretum
28 mi Theme parkSpider Hill
32 mi MuseumAdlai E. Stevenson I House
32 mi MuseumMetamora Courthouse State Historic SiteFell Arboretum: Willjay, CC BY 3.0 · Spider Hill: NatFee, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adlai E. Stevenson I House: Nyttend, Public domain · Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site: ProfDEH, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of Lexington
About 6 of every 100 Lexington residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
2 places in Lexington on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Lexington.
City in Illinois, United States
Lexington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,090 at the 2020 census. There are two theories regarding the etymology of the city name. One says it was named for the Battle of Lexington, where General Asahel Gridley's father fought, and the other says that it was named for Lexington, Kentucky, the hometown of James Brown, the town's co-founder.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Lexington.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington · Lexington Township | — | — | A | A+ | B+ | B+ |
| Money Creek Township | — | — | B− | — | B+ | A− |
Lexington and Money Creek Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Money Creek Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Lexington Township and Lexington are one community, graded once. Compare Lexington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 3 years of the area's median household income ($79,905 across the Bloomington, 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 A.
3 notable people were born here, including Alex Tanney and Ed Kinsella.
