Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,380, settled in 1850.
Sandwich is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, 175th among Illinois's 767 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: crime is low: it reports less per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $81K. A typical home there costs about $324K, 3.6 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. In the comparison, Sandwich comes below both Illinois’ towns (7.9) and U.S. towns (9.9). Sandwich has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Sandwich City Hall and von KleinSmid Mansion.
Where Sandwich beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Sandwich is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 952 in 1860, 7,221 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 3 maps from 1948 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sandwich, 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 Sandwich.
Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
Sandwich’s property crime rate is 2 per 1,000 residents.
| Sandwich | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Sandwich has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 15° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sandwich.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Sandwich for work: only 13% work in town. Since 2013, Sandwich has added 162 jobs, to 2,392 in 2023. The top destinations are Aurora (7%), Plano (6%) and Chicago (5%).
| Sandwich | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Sandwich beats the Illinois average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 19% of adults binge drink in Sandwich.
| Sandwich | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 35% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 77% | 78% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Sandwich | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 11.3% | 13.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Typical home values rose 4.9% in the year to September 2026.
| Sandwich | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,029 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 75% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.8 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Milestone Park, at 24 acres.
| Sandwich | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.6% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Milestone Park | 0.4 mi | 24 |
| 2. Sandwich Memorial Park | — | 15 |
| 3. Knights Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sandwich. Close and well known come first.
30 mi State parkStarved Rock State Park27 mi Park & preserveMazon Creek
31 mi MuseumMorton Arboretum
37 mi LandmarkSite A / Plot M Disposal Site
32 mi National forestMidewin National Tallgrass Prairie
21 mi TheatreEgyptian Theatre, DeKalbStarved Rock State Park: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Morton Arboretum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Site A / Plot M Disposal Site: Eric Schmuttenmaer, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie: Alanscottwalker, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb: Andy McMurray, CC BY 2.5
1 within 15 miles of the center of Sandwich
About 4 of every 100 Sandwich residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 places in Sandwich on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Sandwich.
City in Illinois, United States
Sandwich is a city in DeKalb and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 7,421 at the 2010 census and 7,221 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Sandwich.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandwich | #175 | A− | B− | A | B | B |
| Little Rock Township | #569 | C | C− | — | B− | B+ |
| Fox Township | — | — | C− | — | A− | A− |
| Somonauk | — | — | B | A− | A− | B+ |
| Plano | #449 | B− | C− | A− | B− | B+ |
Fox Township and Somonauk have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Little Rock Township and Fox Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sandwich with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Sandwich grades A− overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #175 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B for health, A for safety and B for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
10 notable people were born here, including Paul Harvey and Simon Patten.
