Reed TownshipIL
A town of 6,988.
Is Reed Township a good place to live?
Reed Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $200K, 2.2 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. It grades A− overall, 217th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. On the plus side, its public schools beat 79% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. Only 64 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score higher on hazard risk. The biggest place to walk is Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve, 333 acres with 2.4 miles of trail. On history, just 104 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse.
What makes Reed Township stand out
Where Reed Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Reed-Custer Elementary School | PK–5 | 690 |
| Reed-Custer Middle School | 6–8 | 306 |
| Reed-Custer High School | 9–12 | 397 |
94% of working residents leave Reed Township for work
Where Reed Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Reed Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Reed Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Reed Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Reed 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Reed Township.
Reed Township pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding).
4.3% of Reed Township is conserved land
12 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Reed Township’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Illinois’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Reed Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve | 2.4 mi | 333 |
| 2. Old Smokey City Park | 1 mi | 21 |
| 3. Luke H. Goodrich Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reed Township earns an A− for schools
Its A− for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $200K.
Its public schools are run by Reed Custer CUSD 255U. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Reed-Custer High School, with 397 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reed-Custer Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 690 | A |
| Reed-Custer High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 397 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Reed Township faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 92% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $382 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Reed Township’s FEMA risk score is 18 of 100, below both Illinois’ towns (50 of 100) and U.S. towns (44 of 100). Since 1979, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Reed Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Reed Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.4 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Reed Township for work: only 6% work in town. Reed Township’s average trip to work is 31 minutes. Since 2013, Reed Township has added 198 jobs, to 1,545 in 2023.
| Reed Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.3% | 8.4% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reed Township has four seasons and pleasant summers
Reed Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 16° and about 18 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Health in Reed Township trails 54% of U.S. towns
Reed Township beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 20% of Reed Township adults binge drink.
| Reed Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Reed Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.7% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.8% | 15.9% |
| More smokers | 15.2% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Reed Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Reed Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Reed Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Reed Township
Township in Illinois, United States
Reed Township is located in Will County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 6,948 and it contained 3,259 housing units. Reed Township was originally named Clinton Township, but was changed on June 10, 1850.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 18 sq mi
Reed Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Reed Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reed Township | #217 | A− | B+ | — | A− | B− |
| Wilmington Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Braidwood | #129 | A | B+ | A− | A− | B− |
| Braceville Township | #109 | A | B+ | — | A | B− |
| Custer Township | — | — | B− | — | A− | C+ |
Custer Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Reed Township, Braceville Township and Custer Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Wilmington Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Reed Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Reed Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Reed Township, IL a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Reed Township grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #217 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B− for health and A− for schools.
Is Reed Township, IL expensive?
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 B+.