Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 29,217, settled in 1837.
For most people who can afford it, yes. McHenry grades B+ overall, 344th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $86K. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $313K for a typical one and 3.4 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. McHenry has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Count's House and Colby-Petersen Farm. McHenry’s median rent is $1,553 a month, above both the Illinois town median ($1,128 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). The biggest park or preserve is Fox Ridge Park, at 91 acres.
Where McHenry beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far McHenry is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 874 in 1880, 27,135 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 6 maps from 1926 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in McHenry, 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 McHenry.
McHenry trades workers with Chicago and other neighbors and sees little violent crime.
| McHenry | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fox Ridge Park | 0.2 mi | 91 |
| 2. Petersen Park | — | 78 |
| 3. Cold Springs Park | — | 50 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 9 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
McHenry’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| McHenry | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
McHenry beats the Illinois average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 31% of McHenry adults sleep under 7 hours.
| McHenry | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 37% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 77% | 78% | 79% |
| What stands out | McHenry | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.2% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.1% | 7.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.7% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 47 flood insurance claims have been paid out in McHenry.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
McHenry has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 14° and about 35 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
McHenry has about as many jobs (13,346) as working residents, but only 1,639 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave McHenry for work: only 13% work in town. 4.7% of residents live below the poverty line in McHenry. Since 2013, McHenry has lost 1,046 jobs, to 13,346 in 2023.
| McHenry | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 14% | 11% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Typical home values rose 5.2% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around McHenry. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
31 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
14 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
29 mi MuseumMcDonald's #1 Store Museum
29 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre6 mi MuseumVolo Auto MuseumSix Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · McDonald's #1 Store Museum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of McHenry
About 5 of every 100 McHenry residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
8 notable people were born in McHenry.
City in Illinois, United States
McHenry is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located about 46 miles northwest of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 27,135. McHenry was at one time the county seat of McHenry County, which once included adjoining Lake County to the east. McHenry took its name from the county, which was named for Major William McHenry, a prominent US Army officer in the Black Hawk War. It rests at an elevation of 797 feet and the Fox River flows through the eastern portion of the city. It is surrounded by natural lakes and streams, grassy moraine hills, gravel banks and shallow nutrient-rich peat bogs, remnants of receding glaciers from the last ice age. Moraine Hills Sta…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with McHenry.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McHenry | #344 | B+ | C− | A− | B− | B+ |
| Wonder Lake | #237 | A− | C+ | A | B+ | B+ |
| Johnsburg | #377 | B | C+ | — | B | B+ |
| McCullom Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bull Valley | — | — | C− | A+ | B+ | A− |
| Prairie Grove | — | — | C− | B+ | B+ | A |
Bull Valley and Prairie Grove have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Johnsburg reports no FBI crime data of its own. McCullom Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare McHenry with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. McHenry grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #344 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, A− for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
8 notable people were born here, including John Brzenk and Patrick Gasienica.
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