Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Niles grades B overall, ranked 381st of 767 in Illinois. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. It is healthier than 83% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $359K, 3.9 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 29% of residents are 65 or older in Niles, above both Illinois’ towns (19%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 73 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns score lower on civic life. The biggest park or preserve is Caldwell Preserves, at 145 acres.
Where Niles beats most towns.
Where Niles’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 Niles is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 289 in 1880, 30,912 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1934 and 7 maps from 1900 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Niles. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
4 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
Big draw20 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaRate FieldWrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Niles, 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 Niles.
Niles draws workers from Chicago and beyond, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
21,370 jobs are based in Niles, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Niles for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Niles is 28 minutes. Jobs based in Niles grew to 21,370 in 2023, 1,231 more than in 2013.
| Niles | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
4.0 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. Niles’ trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Niles | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Golf Mill Park | 0.8 mi | 10 |
| 2. Forest Preserve District of Cook County | 0.4 mi | 66 |
| 3. Caldwell Preserves | 0.3 mi | 145 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
25% of adults have obesity in Niles. Niles beats the Illinois average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 33% of adults have high blood pressure in Niles.
| Niles | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Niles | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.2% | 7.8% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
People 65 and older are 29% of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (23% statewide). 39% of Niles adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Niles | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.2 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 29% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.8 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 52.4, men 44.6.
| Niles | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.8% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.9% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.9% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.1% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.1% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.8% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 15.7% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.7% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.2% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.2% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.6% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.8% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Niles has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
58 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 18 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 58 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Niles.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
39 within 15 miles of the center of Niles
About 5 of every 100 Niles residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Village in the United States
Niles is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located in the townships of Maine and Niles, directly neighboring Chicago's far northwest border. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,912. The current mayor of Niles is George Alpogianis.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Niles.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niles | #381 | B | C− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Morton Grove | #239 | A− | D | B+ | A− | A |
| Chicago | #676 | C− | C− | D | C | B+ |
| Niles Township | #290 | B+ | D | — | A− | A |
| Park Ridge | #30 | A+ | C− | B+ | A | A+ |
| Glenview | #192 | A− | D− | B− | A | A+ |
| Skokie | #465 | B− | D | C− | B+ | A |
Niles Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Niles with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Niles grades B overall, better than 63% of U.S. towns and #381 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $359,000, 21% above the Illinois typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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