Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,152.
The best of Ricks Township’s subject grades is an A for cost of living; the weakest is a C− for schools. Ricks Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Ricks Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 414 in 1870, a peak of 1,829 in 1920, 1,173 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2026 and 3 maps from 1946 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Ricks 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Ricks Township.
Of its 3 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The public schools here belong to Morrisonville CUSD 1. 3 public schools serve Ricks Township, with 287 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morrisonville Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 155 | C+ |
| Morrisonville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 85 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
2.8% of Ricks Township working residents work locally, below both Illinois’ towns (8.3%) and U.S. towns (8%). Employers in Ricks Township shed 150 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 225. In Ricks Township, 15% of residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Taylorville (22%), Springfield (18%) and Decatur (6%).
| Ricks Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Ricks Township’s midsummer high stands at 86°F, above the Illinois town median (84°F) and near the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
CDC measures, 32 in all: Ricks Township beats Illinois on 6 and trails on 4. 18% of adults binge drink locally. In Ricks Township, 15% of adults smoke cigarettes, and 12% worry about having enough food.
| Ricks Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Ricks Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.1% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Compared with 55% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Ricks Township is lower. FEMA puts 28% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to earthquakes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Across 1 park or preserve: 5.9 miles of trail. Ricks Township’s density of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Ricks Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Morrisonville Village Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Ricks Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Ricks Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Ricks Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Township in Illinois, United States
Ricks Township is one of seventeen townships in Christian County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,173 and it contained 524 housing units.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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.