Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Princeton gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $178K, 2.5 years of the Ottawa area’s $72K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 307th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 86% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 8 places on the National Register. 32% of working residents work locally in Princeton, where Illinois’ towns sit at 8.3% and U.S. towns at 8%. On history, just 74 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Zearing Park, at 75 acres.
Where Princeton beats most towns.
Owen Lovejoy Homestead
Owen Lovejoy Homestead is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 2,473 in 1860, 7,832 in 2020. The archive holds 13 old photos and papers going back to 1852 and 5 maps from 1893 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Princeton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Princeton, 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 Princeton.
Princeton is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Illinois’s; it also has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
The median property tax bill is $2,556, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Princeton’s median rent is $782 a month. Typical home values rose 5.8% in the year to September 2026.
| Princeton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $782 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Princeton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.3% | 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. Zearing Park | 0.5 mi | 75 |
| 2. City County Park | — | 62 |
| 3. Alexander Park | 0.1 mi | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Princeton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Princeton has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 14° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 4,943 in 2013 to 3,882. The average commute for its 3,336 working residents takes 18.2 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 3 of Princeton’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Princeton is 18 minutes. Since 2013, Princeton has lost 1,061 jobs, to 3,882 in 2023.
| Princeton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.2% | 11% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 14.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 54% of Illinois’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 123 to 58 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 9,391 U.S. towns with household incomes like Princeton’s, it is healthier than 70%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Princeton beats the Illinois average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 39% of adults have high blood pressure in Princeton.
| Princeton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 80% | 78% | 79% |
| What stands out | Princeton | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10% | 13.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.7% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Princeton; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Princeton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
8 places in Princeton on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Princeton.
City in Illinois, United States
Princeton is a city in and the county seat of Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,832 at the 2020 census. Princeton is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Princeton.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton · Princeton Township | #307 | B+ | A | B | B− | B− |
| Dover Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Dover Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Princeton Township and Princeton are one community, graded once. Compare Princeton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Princeton grades B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns and #307 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B− for health, B for safety 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 A.
19 notable people were born here, including Billy Garrett and Virgil Fox.
