Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
North Chicago's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades B+, ranked 337th of 767 in Illinois. It is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns and it has 7 miles of trail. 25% of residents live below the poverty line in North Chicago, where Illinois’ towns sit at 8.4% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Only 10 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns score lower on civic life. North Chicago is home to Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
Where North Chicago beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far North Chicago is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,150 in 1900, a peak of 47,275 in 1970, 30,759 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1911 and 5 maps from 1906 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around North Chicago. Close and well known come first.
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw5 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
Big draw39 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaUnited CenterWrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in North Chicago, 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 North Chicago.
North Chicago carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly cold waves), is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Illinois’s.
7.4 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. The trail density in North Chicago is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Greenbelt Forest Preserve, at 277 acres.
| North Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.7% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Guardian Park | 0.4 mi | 16 |
| 2. Greenbelt Forest Preserve | 0.1 mi | 277 |
| 3. Foss Park | — | 40 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 100% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $163 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
North Chicago’s FEMA risk score is 2 of 100. Since 1981, 79 flood insurance claims have been paid out in North Chicago.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Home values rose 54% in five years, to about $224K, against 30% across Illinois.
33% of households own their home in North Chicago. Typical home values rose 8.5% in the year to September 2026.
| North Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 33% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,426 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
North Chicago has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Among 768 Illinois towns, just 2 have a lower July high than North Chicago.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 13.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 50% of Illinois’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 8,957 U.S. towns with household incomes like North Chicago’s, it is healthier than 88%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
North Chicago beats the Illinois average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 41% of North Chicago adults feel lonely. Of the 767 Illinois towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than North Chicago.
| North Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 78% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 13% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | North Chicago | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 2.6% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 12.5% | 24.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.5% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 8,661 working residents takes 16.8 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois. Jobs based here grew from 5,644 in 2013 to 12,431.
Most working residents leave North Chicago for work: only 7% work in town. Since 2013, North Chicago has added 6,787 jobs, to 12,431 in 2023. The top destinations are Chicago (20%), Waukegan (8%) and Gurnee (3%).
| North Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 26% | 11% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.6% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
5 within 15 miles of the center of North Chicago
About 10 of every 100 North Chicago residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
8.7% of the town is conserved land, across 8 parks and preserves.
3 places in North Chicago on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in the United States
North Chicago is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 30,759 at the 2020 census making it the third-most populous city by population in the county, after Waukegan and Mundelein. An industrial center, North Chicago is home to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and Great Lakes Barracks Military housing. The city is also home to Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, which houses the Chicago Medical School.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with North Chicago.
Lake Bluff next door grades higher for schools (A+ to North Chicago’s B+) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Chicago | #337 | B+ | C+ | B | B+ | B |
| Shields Township | #209 | A− | D | — | B+ | A |
| Lake Bluff | #15 | A+ | D | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Waukegan · Waukegan Township | #639 | C− | C+ | C | C | C |
| Libertyville Township | #40 | A+ | C− | — | A+ | A+ |
Shields Township and Libertyville Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Waukegan Township and Waukegan are one community, graded once. Compare North Chicago with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. North Chicago grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #337 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B for health, B 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 C+.
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