Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,860. Home to Sauk Valley Community College.
Palmyra Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $266K, 3.8 years of the Dixon area’s $70K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 542nd among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Palmyra Township’s average trip to work is 18 minutes, below both Illinois’ towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Palmyra Township is home to Sauk Valley Community College. Palmyra Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 84% of U.S. towns.
Where Palmyra Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Palmyra Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Pleasant Home is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
The archive holds 2 maps from 1946 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Palmyra 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 Palmyra Township.
Palmyra Township has little public open land, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health and has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Jobs based here fell from 588 in 2013 to 451. The average commute for its 1,317 working residents takes 17.8 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Palmyra Township for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Palmyra Township fell to 451 in 2023, 137 fewer than in 2013. 5.5% of Palmyra Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Palmyra Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.7% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 30% of residents (17% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 32% of residents (39% statewide). Palmyra Township’s median age is 45.2 years. 34% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Palmyra Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 45.2 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
46% women, 54% men
About 116 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.7 points). Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 70% are men (IL 41%).
| Palmyra Township | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.2% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.2% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.3% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 16.4% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.3% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.9% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.6% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.1% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,900, single groups can be off by several points
Palmyra Township has cold winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 13° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,488 U.S. towns with household incomes like Palmyra Township’s, it is less healthy than 82%, so it trails even them.
Palmyra Township beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 40% of adults have obesity in Palmyra Township.
| Palmyra Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Palmyra Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.6% | 6.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.5% | 10.3% |
| More smokers | 15.8% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 42 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Palmyra Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 118 of its 22,614 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Palmyra Township itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. L & M Prairie Nature Heritage Landmark | — | 9 |
| 2. Oppold Marina | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Palmyra Township. Close and well known come first.
5 mi National Historic SiteRonald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site
38 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
5 mi MuseumJohn Deere House and Shop
40 mi GardenAnderson Japanese Gardens
17 mi MuseumChana School
36 mi GardenKlehm Arboretum and Botanic GardenRonald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site: Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois, CC BY-SA 2.0 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · John Deere House and Shop: IvoShandor, CC BY 2.5 · Anderson Japanese Gardens: M. Readey, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chana School: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin), CC BY 2.5 · Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden: KlehmArboretum, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Palmyra Township
About 4 of every 100 Palmyra Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Palmyra Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Unincorporated community in Illinois, United States
Palmyra is an unincorporated community in Lee County, Illinois, United States.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Palmyra Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmyra Township | #542 | C+ | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Nelson Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Woosung Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sterling Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dixon Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jordan Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Palmyra Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Nelson Township, Woosung Township, Sterling Township, Dixon Township and Jordan Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Palmyra Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Palmyra Township grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #542 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C+ for health and B− for schools.
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 B+.
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