Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 39,948, settled in 1833.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oswego grades A− overall, 177th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. The median household earns $124K. It is healthier than 84% of U.S. towns and it reports less crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $421K, 4.6 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. Oswego’s median rent is $1,860 a month, against $1,128 a month in Illinois’ towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Downtown Oswego Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Oswego's schools outperform 72% of the state's.
Where Oswego beats most towns.
30,355 counted in 2010 and 34,585 in 2020; an estimated 39,948 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 15.4% since 2020, after 13.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Oswego is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 13%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 663 in 1880, 34,585 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 2003 and 5 maps from 1925 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Oswego. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw40 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw40 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw39 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · 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 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Oswego, 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 Oswego.
Oswego reports less crime than Yorkville or any other graded neighbor and has less food insecurity than most of Illinois, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
8.6 miles of trail in 40 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Prairie Point Community Park, at 71 acres.
| Oswego | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.8% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hunt Club Prairie Wetland | 1.2 mi | 36 |
| 2. South Point Park | 0.4 mi | 7 |
| 3. Prairie Point Community Park | 0.2 mi | 71 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 10.3% of its 24,677 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide. Against the 5,194 U.S. towns with household incomes like Oswego’s, it is healthier than 62%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
20% of Oswego adults binge drink. Oswego beats the Illinois average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 11% of Oswego adults report frequent physical distress.
| Oswego | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Oswego | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.3% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.3% | 3.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A− tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Yorkville (A−) comes closest. Reported crimes fell from 260 to 196 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Oswego is 4.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Oswego | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
71.8% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 47.9% across Illinois. The median property tax bill is $8,330, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
88% of households own their home in Oswego. The typical Oswego home is worth about $421,000, up 3.4% in a year, 42% above the Illinois typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Oswego for work: only 8% work in town. Oswego’s average trip to work is 32 minutes. Since 2013, Oswego has added 2,193 jobs, to 10,974 in 2023.
| Oswego | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $124,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 18% | 11% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Oswego has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 15° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 11% of residents (17% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (39% statewide). Oswego has grown 15% since 2020, to 39,948 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 44% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Oswego | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 11% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 29% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 26% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.7 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.8, men 38.3.
| Oswego | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.8% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.5% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.1% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.3% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.7% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.6% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.5% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.9% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.8% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.7% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.6% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 62% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Oswego.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Oswego
About 5 of every 100 Oswego residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Where Oswego’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 notable people were born in Oswego.
Village in Illinois, US
Oswego ( oss-WEE-goh) is a village in Kendall and Will counties, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 34,485. Oswego is the largest municipality in Kendall County. Part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it is an exurb of Chicago.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Oswego.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Yorkville (A−) comes closest.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswego | #177 | A− | D | A− | B+ | A− |
| Boulder Hill | #551 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Montgomery | #480 | B− | D | B | B | B+ |
| Aurora | #422 | B | C− | C+ | B+ | B |
| Yorkville | #225 | A− | D | A− | A− | A− |
Boulder Hill reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Oswego with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oswego grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #177 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and B+ 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.
6 notable people were born here, including Julianne Sitch and Arthur M. Beaupre.
_-_Chicago,_IL_-_June_2026.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}