Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Normal's standout: it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades B+, 313th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $65K. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its police reported 152 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 70% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $270K, 3.4 years of the Bloomington metro’s $80K median household income. Normal’s age of the median resident is 25 years, below both Illinois’ towns (40.7 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). Normal is home to Illinois State University. Normal's schools outperform 68% of the state's.
Where Normal beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Illinois State University | 19,834 |
| Heartland Community College | 3,727 |
John W. Cook Hall
Census counts: 847 in 1860, 52,736 in 2020. The archive holds 16 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1981 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Normal is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Normal, 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 Normal.
Normal is shaped by its college students, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of Illinois.
Maxwell Park, at 125 acres with 3.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. In 23 parks and preserves, walkers have 9.6 miles of trail. Normal’s trail network density comes in at 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Normal | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maxwell Park | 3.3 mi | 125 |
| 2. Ilse and Charles Jobson Natural Play Park | 0.6 mi | 11 |
| 3. Fairview Park | 0.3 mi | 49 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The level of property crime for Normal comes to 16.3 per 1,000 residents. The rate of reported violence for Normal comes to 2.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Normal | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.3 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 9,899 U.S. towns with household incomes like Normal’s, it is healthier than 91%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Among 767 Illinois towns, just 9 have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Normal. In Normal, 25% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. Of 32 CDC measures, Normal beats the Illinois average on 9 and trails it on 8.
| Normal | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 35% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 11% | 12% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Normal | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 8% | 11.7% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.4% | 3.3% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.7% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A winter brings about 7 inches of snow, with January nights at 17° and July afternoons at 85°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 20,388 working residents takes 16.5 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Among residents in Normal, 21% live below the poverty line. Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Normal itself. Its typical journey to work is 17 minutes. It had 26,845 jobs in 2023, up 5,394 from 2013.
| Normal | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical rent in Normal is $965 a month. A typical home in the town is worth about $270,000, about the same as a year ago, 9% below the Illinois typical home. For households in the town, the share who own their home is 55%.
| Normal | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $965 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. The national flood insurance program has paid 29 claims in Normal since 1979. Just over two fifths of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 34%. Federal aid has come to Normal households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Normal. Close and well known come first.
39 mi MuseumMonticello Railway Museum
in town GardenFell Arboretum33 mi Zoo & aquariumPeoria Zoo4 mi MuseumPrairie Aviation Museum
16 mi Theme parkSpider HillMonticello Railway Museum: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fell Arboretum: Willjay, CC BY 3.0 · Spider Hill: NatFee, CC BY-SA 4.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Normal
College town 32 of every 100 Normal residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 colleges in town.
8 places in Normal on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Normal.
Town in the United States
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 52,736 at the 2020 census. Normal is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and is Illinois's seventh most populous community outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is home to Illinois State University and Heartland Community College. Founded in 1865, it was renamed Normal in 1867 after Illinois State Normal University (now Illinois State University), a normal school. Chris Koos has been the mayor of Normal since 2003.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Normal.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal · Normal Township | #313 | B+ | B− | C | B+ | B+ |
| Bloomington | #204 | A− | B− | — | B | A− |
| Bloomington City Township | #188 | A− | B− | — | B | A− |
| Towanda Township | — | — | C | — | B+ | A− |
Towanda Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bloomington, Bloomington City Township and Towanda Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Normal Township and Normal are one community, graded once. Compare Normal with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Normal grades B+ overall, better than 71% of U.S. towns and #313 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, C for safety and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
30 notable people were born here, including McLean Stevenson and Jeff Fowler.
