Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rantoul earns a D−, 763rd among Illinois's 767 graded towns, mostly because of schools and health. Its schools rank behind 94% of the state's. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 86% of the country. What it does well: 4% of its land is conserved. Rantoul’s violent crime rate is 5.2 per 1,000 residents, against 1 in Illinois’ towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. On safety, just 40 of Illinois’ 405 towns do worse. Chanute Field Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Rantoul beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Rantoul is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 850 in 1880, a peak of 25,562 in 1970, 12,371 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 4 maps from 1924 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rantoul. Close and well known come first.
14 mi LandmarkAmerican Football House
15 mi Stadium & arenaGies Memorial Stadium
in town MuseumOctave Chanute Aerospace Museum
14 mi TheatreKrannert Center for the Performing Arts
34 mi GardenRobert Allerton Park
27 mi MuseumMonticello Railway MuseumAmerican Football House: BanjoZebra, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gies Memorial Stadium: T.J. Blakeman, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Krannert Center for the Performing Arts: Aries Liang, Public domain · Robert Allerton Park: D. Finnigan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Monticello Railway Museum: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rantoul, 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 Rantoul.
Rantoul is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Illinois rate and has household incomes well below the Illinois norm.
The typical Rantoul home is worth about $141,000, up 1.7% in a year, 52% below the Illinois typical home. 55% of Rantoul households own their home.
| Rantoul | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $890 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 5,266 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rantoul’s, it is less healthy than 61%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of adults report frequent mental distress in Rantoul. Rantoul beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 26% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Rantoul.
| Rantoul | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Rantoul | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21% | 10.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 13.5% | 7.8% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 25.3% | 15.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime runs at 5.2 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Illinois rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C−.
The property crime rate in Rantoul is 13.2 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2.2 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Hetitage Lake Park, at 38 acres.
| Rantoul | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hetitage Lake Park | 0.6 mi | 38 |
| 2. Maplewood Sports Complex | 0.2 mi | 22 |
| 3. Bill Seeber Memorial Soccer Complex | — | 22 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rantoul has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 17° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 4,578 working residents takes 19.5 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 4 of Rantoul’s working residents works in town. Rantoul’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Jobs based in Rantoul fell to 3,871 in 2023, 237 fewer than in 2013.
| Rantoul | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Rantoul
About 4 of every 100 Rantoul residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rantoul grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #763 of 767 in Illinois. It grades D for health, C− for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.2 years of the area's median household income ($65,528 across the Champaign-Urbana, IL metro 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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