Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Marengo is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 503rd among Illinois's 767 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 67% of the country. It also does better than most on safety: crime is low: it reports less per resident than 63% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $74K, and 16% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $368K, 4 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. Marengo’s age of the median resident is 31.9 years, where Illinois’ towns sit at 40.7 years and U.S. towns at 40.5 years. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Charles H. Hibbard House and Orson Rogers House.
Where Marengo beats most towns.
Where Marengo’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 Marengo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,119 in 1860, 7,568 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1896 and 2 maps from 1968 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Marengo, 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 Marengo.
8% of Marengo workers do their job from home. For most workers, Marengo is a place to come home to: only 9% work in town. The average commute locally is 30 minutes. The top destinations are Chicago (8%), Elgin (5%) and Crystal Lake (3%).
| Marengo | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 75% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid out on 12 claims in Marengo since 1978. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 54% come from inland flooding and 20% from tornadoes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The biggest park or preserve is Coral Woods Conservation Area, at 108 acres. Walkers can cover 2.1 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. For Marengo, the concentration of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Marengo | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Coral Woods Conservation Area | — | 108 |
| 2. Indian Oaks Park | — | 56 |
| 3. Sponable Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical home value in Marengo is about $368,000, up 6.7% in a year, 24% above the Illinois typical home. Homes sold in Marengo spent a median 42 days on the market. 30% of the homes sold in Marengo went for more than their asking price.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The share of adults in Marengo who sleep under 7 hours: 32%. In Marengo, 19% of adults binge drink, and 76% had a checkup this year.
| Marengo | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 37% | 35% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 14°, and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 13.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 52% of Illinois’s graded towns.
Marengo’s rate of reported violence is 1.9 per 1,000 residents. The property offense rate for Marengo comes to 6.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Marengo | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Marengo
About 6 of every 100 Marengo residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
2 places in Marengo on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Marengo.
City in Illinois, United States
Marengo is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States on the Kishwaukee River. It lies approximately 60 miles west northwest of Chicago and approximately 30 miles east of Rockford. Per the 2020 census, the population was 7,568.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Marengo.
Riley isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Marengo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Marengo grades B− overall, better than 45% of U.S. towns and #503 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, B for safety and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Egbert Van Alstyne and Carl Lundgren.
