Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pontiac gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $158K for a typical one, or 2.1 years of the Pontiac area’s $74K median household income. It grades C overall, 598th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and its schools rank behind 83% of the state's. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. 32% of working residents work locally in Pontiac, against 8.3% in Illinois’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Jones House and Livingston County Courthouse.
Where Pontiac beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jones House
Census counts: 733 in 1860, 11,150 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1858 and 2 maps from 1935 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Pontiac is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pontiac, 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 Pontiac.
Pontiac trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding) and is a long drive from an emergency room.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $523 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on. 189 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1979, 189 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pontiac. Among 768 Illinois towns, just 1 have a higher FEMA risk score than Pontiac.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes are within reach (about $158K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 32 miles. At 2.1 years of the Pontiac area’s $74K median household income, the typical home (about $158K) costs less against local pay than in 75% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 10% in the year to September 2026. The median rent in Pontiac is $842 a month.
| Pontiac | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $842 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Pontiac has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 17° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The nearest emergency room, Gibson Community Hospital, is 31.8 miles away in a straight line. Against the 9,249 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pontiac’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Pontiac beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 16% of adults smoke cigarettes in Pontiac.
| Pontiac | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Pontiac | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 16.4% | 12.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.5% | 6.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.6% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.4 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Pontiac Rec-Plex, at 40 acres.
| Pontiac | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pontiac Rec-Plex | — | 40 |
| 2. Chautauqua Park | — | 18 |
| 3. Play Park | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 3,911 working residents takes 16.7 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Pontiac’s working residents works in town. Pontiac’s average trip to work is 17 minutes. Since 2013, Pontiac has lost 540 jobs, to 4,619 in 2023.
| Pontiac | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.5% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Pontiac; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Pontiac residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
4 places in Pontiac on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Pontiac.
City in Illinois, United States
Pontiac is a city in Livingston County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,150 as of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pontiac grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #598 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
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−.
7 notable people were born here, including Patricia Tallman and Moira Harris.
