Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,018, settled in 1866. Public schools that outperform most of Illinois.
Mount Zion Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $184K for a typical one, or 2.9 years of the Decatur metro’s $63K median household income. It grades A− overall, ranked 281st of 767 in Illinois. On the plus side, the median household earns $102K. 28% of residents are under 18 in Mount Zion Township, where Illinois’ towns sit at 22% and U.S. towns at 22%. Eli Ulery House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 76% of U.S. towns.
Where Mount Zion Township beats most towns.
Where Mount Zion 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 Mount Zion Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 243 in 1880, 6,019 in 2020. The archive holds 2 maps from 1949 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mount Zion 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 Mount Zion Township.
Mount Zion Township pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and has added a third more jobs in ten years, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
21% of Mount Zion Township residents are 65 or older. Mount Zion Township has lost 2.6% of its people since 2020, down to 7,018 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Mount Zion Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 42.8 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 29% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Mount Zion Township | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.5% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.4% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.3% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 17.2% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.6% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.1% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.7% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.4% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.4% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.1% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.7% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.4% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Its A− for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $184K. Its A− is the best School Grade on its borders; Long Creek Township (B+) is next.
Its public schools are run by Mt Zion CUSD 3. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mt Zion High School, with 762 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mt Zion Intermediate SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 557 | B |
| Mt Zion High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 762 | A− |
| Mt Zion Elem SchoolTop results in townGrades 2–3 | Grades 2–3 | 359 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 1,301 in 2013 to 1,745.
Most working residents leave Mount Zion Township for work: only 11% work in town. 3.5% of residents live below the poverty line in Mount Zion Township. Since 2013, Mount Zion Township has added 444 jobs, to 1,745 in 2023.
| Mount Zion Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Mount Zion Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 19° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
8.4 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. Spitler Woods State Natural Area, at 201 acres with 2.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The trail density in Mount Zion Township is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Mount Zion Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Daniel Conservation Area | 4.3 mi | 192 |
| 2. Spitler Woods State Natural Area | 2.1 mi | 201 |
| 3. Fletcher Park | 1 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mount Zion Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 8,210 U.S. towns with household incomes like Mount Zion Township’s, it is less healthy than 79%, so it trails even them.
Mount Zion Township beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7.
| Mount Zion Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Mount Zion Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.1% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.6% | 13.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Mount Zion Township
About 3 of every 100 Mount Zion Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Mount Zion is a village in Macon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,019 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Mount Zion Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Zion Township | #281 | A− | B+ | — | A− | B− |
| Dora Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Long Creek Township | #399 | B | B− | — | B+ | B− |
| South Wheatland Township | #420 | B | B | — | B+ | B− |
| Penn Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Macon Township | — | — | A− | — | B+ | B+ |
South Macon Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Mount Zion Township, Long Creek Township, South Wheatland Township and South Macon Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Dora Township and Penn Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Mount Zion Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Mount Zion Township grades A− overall, better than 75% of U.S. towns and #281 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B− for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
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+.