Riley TownshipIL
A town of 3,017, settled in 1849.
Is Riley Township a good place to live?
Riley Township grades B+ overall, ranked 357th of 767 in Illinois, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $165K and natural-hazard risk is low. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 74% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $366K for a typical one and 4 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. Riley Township’s median household income is $165,000, where Illinois’ towns sit at $83,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Coral Woods Conservation Area, at 155 acres.
What makes Riley Township stand out
Where Riley Township beats most towns.
97% of working residents leave Riley Township for work
Where Riley Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Riley Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Riley Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Riley Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Riley 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 Riley Township.
Riley Township owes part of its health edge to its incomes, has household incomes well above the Illinois norm and has added half again as many jobs in ten years.
With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Riley Township’s workers commute out
Jobs based here grew from 430 in 2013 to 717.
Most working residents leave Riley Township for work: only 3% work in town. The average trip to work in Riley Township is 32 minutes. Jobs based in Riley Township grew to 717 in 2023, 287 more than in 2013.
| Riley Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Riley Township’s grade for schools is a B+
Its public schools are run by Riley CCSD 18. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Comm Cons SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 277 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Fewer young adults than Illinois overall
The median household earns $164,764, against $83,390 across Illinois, one input to its A for jobs and income.
Adults 18 to 34 are 10% of residents (23% statewide); children under 18 are 33% of residents (22% statewide). 45% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Riley Township.
| Riley Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 43 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.2 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Riley Township | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.1% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 25.6% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.4% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 20.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5.9% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.1% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.7% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.8% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.5% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Riley Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 75% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Riley Township since 2009.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On CDC estimates, Riley Township is healthier than 68% of U.S. towns
Against the 1,900 U.S. towns with household incomes like Riley Township’s, it is less healthy than 94%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Riley Township beats the Illinois average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 31% of Riley Township adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Riley Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 37% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 78% | 78% | 79% |
| What stands out | Riley Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.6% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.6% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Riley Township
Riley Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 14° and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Riley Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Coral Woods Conservation Area | — | 155 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Six Flags Great America and 26 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Riley Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
7 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
39 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
40 mi MuseumMorton Arboretum
23 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
19 mi TheatreEgyptian Theatre, DeKalbPhoto credits
Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Morton Arboretum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb: Andy McMurray, CC BY 2.5
Everything we know about Riley Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Riley Township; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Riley Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Riley Township
Census-designated place in Illinois, United States
Riley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It was named a CDP before the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 10.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Elevation
- 807 ft
Riley Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Riley Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Township | #357 | B+ | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| Marengo Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Spring Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Genoa Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coral Township | #390 | B | C− | — | A− | A− |
| Seneca Township | #501 | B− | D | — | B+ | B+ |
Riley Township, Coral Township and Seneca Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Marengo Township, Spring Township and Genoa Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Riley Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Riley Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Riley Township, IL a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Riley Township grades B+ overall, better than 67% of U.S. towns and #357 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Riley Township, IL expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.