Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 55,372. Public schools that outperform most of Illinois.
Palos Township grades A overall, 157th among Illinois's 767 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools rank ahead of 91% of Illinois towns and it is healthier than 86% of U.S. towns. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 73% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Palos Township’s trail density is 2.3 miles per square mile, where Illinois’ towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Palos Township is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Sag Valley Forest Preserve, 3,912 acres with 4.9 miles of trail.
Where Palos Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Oak Ridge Elem School | 2–5 | 774 |
| Palos East Elementary School | K–5 | 705 |
| Palos West Elementary School | PK–5 | 700 |
14.5% of the town is conserved land, across 44 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Palos Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,436 in 1930, 56,836 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 8 maps from 1890 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Palos Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw15 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw18 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 Palos 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 Palos Township.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cap Sauers Holding Nature Preserve | 9.4 mi | 1,470 |
| 2. Sag Valley Forest Preserve | 4.9 mi | 3,912 |
| 3. Spears Woods | 4.4 mi | 471 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| H H Conrady Jr High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,047 | A |
| Carl Sandburg High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,840 | A |
| Palos West Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 700 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
28% of adults have obesity in Palos Township, below both Illinois’ towns (37%) and U.S. towns (35%). 14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Palos Township. Palos Township beats the Illinois average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Palos Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Palos Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.4% | 7.8% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Since 1978, 80 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Palos Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Palos Township has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Palos Township for work: only 10% work in town. The average trip to work in Palos Township is 33 minutes. Since 2013, Palos Township has lost 2,819 jobs, to 18,523 in 2023.
| Palos Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 14% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.7% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 22% of residents (17% statewide). Palos Township’s median age is 43.7 years. Palos Township has lost 2.6% of its people since 2020, down to 55,372 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Palos Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 43.7 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.5 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 46.7, men 41.2.
| Palos Township | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.6% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.7% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.2% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.7% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.8% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.2% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.1% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.7% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.8% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
22 within 15 miles of the center of Palos Township
About 5 of every 100 Palos Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Township in Illinois, United States
Palos Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,836, with its most populous municipality being Palos Hills (pop. 17,484). The vast majority of the township's population resides in its eastern half; the half west of La Grange Road consists of the Palos Forest Preserves, a section of the Cook County Forest Preserves. In 1850 the small town of Trenton, Illinois changed its name to Palos; this recommendation was made by M. S. Powell, the local postmaster, whose ancestor supposedly sailed with Christopher Columbus from Palos de la Frontera. When it incorporated as a village in 1914, Palos officially became Palos Park. Nearby communitie…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Palos Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Township | #157 | A | C | — | A | A |
| Lyons Township | #219 | A− | C− | — | A− | A |
| Lemont Township | #25 | A+ | C | — | A− | A |
| Orland Township | #163 | A | C− | — | A− | A |
| Worth Township | #531 | C+ | C | — | C | B+ |
| Willow Springs | #102 | A | D | A | A | A |
| Palos Park | #140 | A | D | A | A | A |
| Chicago Ridge | #611 | C | C+ | C | C | B+ |
Palos Township, Lyons Township, Lemont Township, Orland Township and Worth Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Palos Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Palos Township grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #157 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health and A for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
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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