Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 89,835.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Northfield Township grades A overall, 117th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 97% of the country. The median household earns $137K and its public schools beat 91% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $886K, 9.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 70% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Northfield Township, above both Illinois’ towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). Northfield Township is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Camp Pine Woods Preserve, at 697 acres.
Where Northfield Township beats most towns.
Where Northfield 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 Northfield Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 311 in 1930, 5,751 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1927 and 7 maps from 1900 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Northfield Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw26 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
8 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw22 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 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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 Northfield 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 Northfield Township.
Northfield Township draws workers from Chicago and beyond and has less utility shut-off threats than most of Illinois, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Illinois.
At 9.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $886K) costs more against local pay than in 98% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. 60.5% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 47.9% across Illinois.
The median rent in Northfield Township is $1,984 a month. Typical home values rose 11% in the year to September 2026.
| Northfield Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,984 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $886K.
Three of its 36 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attea Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 714 | A |
| Glenbrook South High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,923 | A+ |
| Meadowbrook Elem SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 497 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
58 miles of trail in 60 parks and preserves. Northfield Township’s trail density is 1.7 miles per square mile.
| Northfield Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.8% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chicago Botanic Gardens | 4.9 mi | 101 |
| 2. Somme Woods | 4 mi | 262 |
| 3. Gallery Park | 2.7 mi | 141 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Illinois is utility shut-off threats: 3.7% of its 29,455 adults were threatened with a utility shut-off, against 7.8% statewide.
23% of Northfield Township adults have obesity. Northfield Township beats the Illinois average on 25 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 17% of Northfield Township adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Northfield Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.1% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Northfield Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 3.7% | 7.8% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.5% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
73,221 jobs are based in Northfield Township, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 27% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Northfield Township for work: only 16% work in town. 27% of workers work from home in Northfield Township. Since 2013, Northfield Township has lost 6,588 jobs, to 73,221 in 2023.
| Northfield Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 27% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $137,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Northfield Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 333 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Northfield Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
21 within 15 miles of the center of Northfield Township
About 5 of every 100 Northfield Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
8.8% of the town is conserved land, across 60 parks and preserves.
Village in Illinois, United States
Northfield is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately 19 miles (31 km) north of downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 5,751. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of Chicago that belong to New Trier and Northfield Townships and the greater North Shore.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Northfield Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield Township | #117 | A | D− | — | A | A+ |
| New Trier Township | #45 | A+ | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Wheeling Township | #199 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Niles Township | #290 | B+ | D | — | A− | A |
| Northbrook | #61 | A | D | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Des Plaines | #197 | A− | C− | B | A− | A |
| Moraine Township | #58 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Glencoe | #11 | A+ | D− | A− | A+ | A+ |
Northfield Township, New Trier Township, Wheeling Township, Niles Township and Moraine Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Northfield Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Northfield Township grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #117 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
_-_Chicago,_IL_-_June_2026.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
