Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,738. Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mission Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 602nd of 767 graded towns in Illinois, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: residents are healthier than 63% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its public schools trail 69% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $228K, 3.2 years of the Ottawa area’s $72K median household income. Mission Township’s average trip to work is 38 minutes, where Illinois’ towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Hauge Lutheran Church and Norway Temperance Hall.
Where Mission Township beats most towns.
Where Mission Township’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 Mission Township is from typical.
Its best grade is an A for history (2 places on the National Register), which describes the town but isn’t part of the overall grade; its C comes from the livability subjects above.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2026 and 2 maps from 1971 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Mission 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 Mission Township.
Jobs based here fell from 1,098 in 2013 to 752. The average commute for its 1,356 working residents takes 38.2 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Mission Township for work: only 2% work in town. Since 2013, Mission Township has lost 346 jobs, to 752 in 2023. 6.5% of Mission Township workers work from home.
| Mission Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 6.5% | 11% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Serena CUSD 2. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheridan Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 135 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Mission Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 15° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
22% of adults binge drink in Mission Township. Mission Township beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 75% of adults had a checkup this year in Mission Township.
| Mission Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 78% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Mission Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.8% | 3.3% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 10% | 11.7% |
| More smokers | 15.2% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Mission Township’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Mission Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.8% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. River's Edge | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Mission Township; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Mission Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Township in Illinois, United States
Mission Township is located in LaSalle County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,019 and it contained 1,068 housing units.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Mission Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Township | #602 | C | B− | — | C | B |
| Serena Township | — | — | C | — | C | B |
| Northville Township | #433 | B | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| Fox Township | — | — | C− | — | A− | A− |
| Miller Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sheridan | — | — | B | — | C | B+ |
| Big Grove Township | — | — | B | — | A | A− |
| Millington | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Serena Township, Fox Township, Sheridan and Big Grove Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Mission Township, Serena Township, Northville Township, Fox Township, Sheridan and Big Grove Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Miller Township and Millington aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Mission Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mission Township grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #602 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B for health and C for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
