Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mattoon gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $131K, 2.3 years of the Charleston area’s $56K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 638th of 767 in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $52K, and 21% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country. 33% of working residents work locally in Mattoon, above both Illinois’ towns (8.3%) and U.S. towns (8%). Mattoon is home to Lake Land College.
Where Mattoon beats most towns.
U. S. Post Office| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Lake Land College | 3,221 |
Census counts: 5,737 in 1880, 16,870 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1934 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Mattoon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mattoon, 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 Mattoon.
Mattoon is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of Illinois, but it has poverty well above the Illinois rate.
The median property tax bill is $1,941, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
56% of households own their home in Mattoon. Typical home values rose 5.8% in the year to September 2026. The median rent in Mattoon is $740 a month.
| Mattoon | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $740 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4.4 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Kinzel Field, at 22 acres.
| Mattoon | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kinzel Field | — | 22 |
| 2. Peterson Park | 0.1 mi | 20 |
| 3. Lytle Park | 0.2 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 6,330 U.S. towns with household incomes like Mattoon’s, it is less healthy than 55%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income. All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its C−, from Lafayette Township (C) to Charleston (B−).
24% of Mattoon adults have been diagnosed with depression. Mattoon beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 40% of Mattoon adults have obesity.
| Mattoon | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Mattoon | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.9% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.2% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 17.5% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Mattoon’s violent crime rate is 4.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Mattoon | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.3 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 25 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mattoon.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mattoon 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.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 7,317 working residents takes 18.1 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Mattoon’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Mattoon grew to 10,420 in 2023, 814 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Charleston (8%), Lafayette Township (7%) and Effingham (4%).
| Mattoon | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 4.6% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Mattoon
About 5 of every 100 Mattoon residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
7 places in Mattoon on the National Register of Historic Places.
23 notable people were born in Mattoon.
City in Illinois, United States
Mattoon ( MAT-toon) is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston. Both are principal cities of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area. A restaurant named "Burger King" was founded here prior to the Burger King restaurant chain.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Mattoon.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattoon · Mattoon Township | #638 | C− | B+ | C | B− | C− |
| Lafayette Township | #686 | D | B− | — | C− | C |
| Charleston | #709 | D | B− | C | D | B− |
| Humboldt Township | — | — | A | — | B− | C+ |
Humboldt Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Lafayette Township and Humboldt Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Mattoon Township and Mattoon are one community, graded once. Compare Mattoon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mattoon grades C− overall, better than 23% of U.S. towns and #638 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Jobs & income 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 B+.
23 notable people were born here, including Patricia Harris and Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin.
