Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Riverside Township is one of the best-graded places in America: an A, ranked 74th of 767 in Illinois. The median household earns $122K, its public schools beat 93% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation, and residents are healthier than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $415K for a typical one and 4.6 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 62% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Riverside Township, above both Illinois’ towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). Riverside Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is McCormick Woods Preserve, at 104 acres.
Where Riverside Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| A F Ames Elem School | PK–5 | 482 |
| Central Elem School | PK–5 | 371 |
| Blythe Park Elem School | PK–5 | 230 |
8.6% of the town is conserved land, across 15 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Riverside Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 14%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,551 in 1900, 9,298 in 2020. The archive holds 21 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 8 maps from 1891 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Riverside Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw13 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw11 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Riverside 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 Riverside Township.
Riverside Township pairs an A for schools with high home prices, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
7.4 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. The trail density in Riverside Township is 1.9 miles per square mile.
| Riverside Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.9 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.6% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Commons Park | 0.5 mi | 22 |
| 2. McCormick Woods Preserve | 0.2 mi | 104 |
| 3. National Grove Woods Preserve | 0.1 mi | 72 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $415K.
Its public schools are run by Riverside SD 96. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| L J Hauser Jr High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 597 | A |
| Riverside Brookfield Twp HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,663 | A |
| Central Elem SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 371 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Riverside Township. Riverside Township beats the Illinois average on 18 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 20% of adults binge drink in Riverside Township.
| Riverside Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Riverside Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6% | 7.8% |
| Fewer smokers | 9.4% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 184 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Riverside Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Riverside Township has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 42 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 7,763 in 2013 to 6,156. 24.9% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
Most working residents leave Riverside Township for work: only 5% work in town. 25% of Riverside Township workers work from home. Jobs based in Riverside Township fell to 6,156 in 2023, 1,607 fewer than in 2013.
| Riverside Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 25% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $122,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
57 within 15 miles of the center of Riverside Township
About 5 of every 100 Riverside Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Riverside is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population of the village was 9,298 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Chicago, located around 9 miles (14 km) west of downtown Chicago and 2 miles (3 km) outside city limits. A significant portion of the village is in the Riverside Landscape Architecture District, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Riverside Township.
Proviso Township next door grades lower for schools (C to Riverside Township’s A) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside Township | #74 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Lyons Township | #219 | A− | C− | — | A− | A |
| Lyons | #618 | C | C | — | D | B |
| Riverside | #23 | A+ | C− | B+ | A | A+ |
| Proviso Township | #512 | C+ | C | — | C | B+ |
| Brookfield | #18 | A+ | C− | A | A | A |
| Berwyn · Berwyn Township | #522 | C+ | C− | B+ | C− | B+ |
Riverside Township, Lyons Township, Lyons and Proviso Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Berwyn Township and Berwyn are one community, graded once. Compare Riverside Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Riverside Township grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #74 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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