Is Prairie Grove a good place to live?
Prairie Grove’s best subject grades are an A for incomes and health and an A− for walkability; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. 60% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Prairie Grove, above both the Illinois town median (29%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). On incomes, just 90 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better. Prairie Grove's schools outperform 71% of the state's. Only 39 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on history. The biggest park or preserve is Stickney Run Conservation Area, at 30 acres. Prairie Grove has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Prairie Grove stand out
Where Prairie Grove beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Prairie Grove for work
Where Prairie Grove’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Prairie Grove grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Prairie Grove is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Prairie Grove: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Prairie Grove, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Prairie Grove.
Prairie Grove ranks healthier than 89% of the country’s towns
Prairie Grove beats the Illinois average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 30% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Prairie Grove, against 35% in Illinois’ towns and 36% across U.S. towns. 31% of adults have obesity in Prairie Grove.
| Prairie Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 35% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Prairie Grove | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.8% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.9% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Compared with most of Illinois and the rest of the country, fewer of Prairie Grove’s working residents work locally
0.7% of Prairie Grove working residents work locally. Since 2013, Prairie Grove has lost 581 jobs, to 472 in 2023. Prairie Grove’s median household income is $141,000.
| Prairie Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $141,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.7% | 8.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Prairie Grove is safer than 70% of U.S. towns, by crime per resident
The property crime rate in Prairie Grove is 1.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Prairie Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
High risk in Prairie Grove, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 101 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Prairie Grove.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Prairie Grove, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Prairie Grove has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 14° and about 35 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Prairie Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stickney Run Conservation Area | — | 30 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
More of Prairie Grove’s households own their home than in the typical Illinois or U.S. town
The median sale price was $316,000 in May 2026.
| Prairie Grove | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 96% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,917 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Wrigley Field and 62 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Prairie Grove. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw18 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
27 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
14 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
25 mi MuseumMcDonald's #1 Store Museum
40 mi Park & preserveLincoln ParkPhoto credits
Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · McDonald's #1 Store Museum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Lincoln Park: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Everything we know about Prairie Grove
Colleges nearby
5 within 15 miles of the center of Prairie Grove
About 5 of every 100 Prairie Grove residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About Prairie Grove
Village in Illinois, United States
Prairie Grove is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States, first incorporated in 1973. Per the 2020 census, the population was 1,963.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 751 ft
Prairie Grove’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Prairie Grove.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Grove | — | — | C− | B+ | B+ | A |
| Crystal Lake | #232 | A− | C | B | B+ | A |
| McHenry | #344 | B+ | C− | A− | B− | B+ |
Prairie Grove has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Prairie Grove with a neighbor →
Questions about Prairie Grove
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Prairie Grove, IL expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $468,000, 58% above the Illinois typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.