Town of, 2010
Onarga Township’s story
172 years in pictures
Census counts: 1,061 in 1880, 1,333 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 3 maps from 1939 on.
- 1854Onarga Township is settled
Onarga TownshipIL
Population
1,581
2025 Census estimate · −3.2% since 2020
Median home value
$108K
Census ACS
Household income
$72K
median
Median age
42.2
years
Jobs based here
520
A commuter town
Is Onarga Township a good place to live?
The best of Onarga Township’s subject grades is an A for cost of living; the weakest is a C for health. The biggest park or preserve is Durham Park, at 20 acres. Onarga Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Onarga Township stand out
Where Onarga Township beats most towns.
A commuter town
90% of working residents leave Onarga Township for work
Where Onarga Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
520jobs based in Onarga Township
10%of working residents work in town
28 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
How Onarga Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Onarga Township is from typical.
Cost of livingTypical home $108K, 1.6 years of the county’s $66K median household incomeAOpen →HealthIroquois Memorial Hospital 13.2 miles awayCOpen →Hazard riskinland flooding tops the listCOpen →Jobs & income$72K median household incomeCOpen →SchoolsB+Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 7.7 of 20; 2.8% of households have no car; 0.7% of workers walk, bike or ride transitC+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Outdoors4 miles of trails; 0% conserved landCOpen →HistoryBOpen →Civic life1.2 library visits per resident; 4.4 community nonprofits per 1,000 residentsB−Open →
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
The full setup list →Moving to Onarga Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Onarga Township, and how to reach them.
PowerAmeren Illinois Company16.7¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterOnarga water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet10 providers98% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & dumpNot on file yetWe don’t have Onarga Township’s trash rules yet
Register to voteOnlineIn Illinois you can register online until 16 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 28 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereIroquois County ClerkIroquois County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2025
ZIP codes60955, 60938, 6096860955 94% · 60938 4% · 60968 2%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Onarga Township.
SchoolsB+
Onarga Township’s schools rank ahead of 68% of Illinois districts
Its public schools are run by Iroquois West CUSD 10. 215 students attend Onarga Township’s public school.
68%of IL districts it outscoresB+School Grade
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iroquois West Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 215 | B− |
| Grand Prairie School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 4–12 | Grades 4–12 | 47 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C
Most of Onarga Township’s workers head elsewhere: there are 0.7 jobs for each of them
For Onarga Township, the average commute is 18 minutes. Most working residents leave Onarga Township for work: only 10% work in town. Jobs in Onarga Township grew by 32 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 520. The median commute is under 28 miles.
10%work in town
| Onarga Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
In Onarga Township10%
Gilman16%
Onarga6%
Watseka4%
Kankakee4%
28 mi
median commute distance
520
jobs based in Onarga Township
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
C+
Walkability grade: more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
HealthC
Onarga Township is less healthy than seven in ten U.S. towns
The share of adults in Onarga Township who feel lonely: 35%. Onarga Township: 14% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance, above both the Illinois town median (7.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (8.1%). In Onarga Township, 23% of adults say their health is fair or poor, and 14% have diabetes.
30%healthier than U.S. townsCHealth Grade
| Onarga Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
32 measures vs. Illinois
0 better19 too close to call13 worse
| What stands out | Onarga Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 14.4% | 9.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.9% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 6.3% |
Iroquois Memorial Hospital
13.2 mi away · emergency room
3 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Climate
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Onarga Township
The range runs from 17° on a January night to 85° on a July afternoon, with about 25 inches of snow a winter.
25″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter20–37°
Spring40–62°
Summer61–84°
Fall43–65°
Oct 16
typical first frost
Apr 24
typical last frost
+1.2°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade C
Onarga Township has a moderate natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
48% of Onarga Township’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 34%. Compared with 58% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is higher. One declared disaster, in 1999, has brought federal aid to Onarga Township households.
58risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingCold wavesTornadoes
1
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
OutdoorsC
Conserved land covers 0.5% of Onarga Township
Walkers can cover 4.1 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Onarga Township’s density of trails stands at 0.1 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Illinois’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
0.5%conserved
| Onarga Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
0.5%
conserved · 166 of 30,896 acres
4.1 mi
of trails · 0.1 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Durham Park | — | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Onarga Township
17pages on Onarga Township
The big questions
Out and about
The story
After high school
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Onarga Township; the nearest are
Kankakee Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Kankakee28.2 mi$5,220 in-state tuitionUniversity of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUniversity or college · Public · Champaign43.3 mi$16,004 in-state tuition
About 3 of every 100 Onarga Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Onarga Township
Village in Illinois, United States
Onarga is a village in Onarga Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,333 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1854
- Area
- 1.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 669 ft
- ZIP code
- 60955
Onarga Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Onarga Township.
Douglas TownshipCrescent TownshipArtesia TownshipRidgeland TownshipOnarga Township
How the neighbors grade
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onarga Township | — | — | A | — | B+ | C |
| Douglas Township | — | — | A | — | B+ | C |
| Crescent Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Artesia Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ridgeland Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Onarga Township and Douglas Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Onarga Township and Douglas Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Crescent Township, Artesia Township and Ridgeland Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Onarga Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Onarga Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Onarga Township, IL expensive?
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 A.