Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Savanna Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $82K for a typical one, or 1.3 years of the county’s $61K median household income. It grades C− overall, 661st of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 82% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and its schools rank behind 84% of the state's. On the plus side, it has 8 miles of trail and 40% conserved land. 41% of the land in Savanna Township is conserved, above both Illinois’ towns (3.6%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest park or preserve is Ayers Sand Prairie State Nature Preserve, at 116 acres. Savanna Township is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Savanna Township beats most towns.
40.5% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Savanna Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 658 in 1850, a peak of 5,237 in 1920, 2,783 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1932 and 2 maps from 1952 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Savanna 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 Savanna Township.
Savanna Township keeps more of its land conserved than most of Illinois and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding).
Its 5,390 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Illinois town.
Across 4 parks and preserves: 7.5 miles of trail. Parks and preserves in Savanna Township: 4, covering 145 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Old Mill Park | 0.4 mi | 27 |
| 2. Ayers Sand Prairie State Nature Preserve | — | 116 |
| 3. Maquette Park | 0.2 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
West Carroll CUSD 314 runs its public schools. Its two schools are below. The 2 public schools in Savanna Township teach 677 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Carroll PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 432 | C |
| West Carroll High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 245 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Illinois towns; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
The risk rating from FEMA for Savanna Township comes to 82 of 100, above both the Illinois town median (50 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). FEMA puts 68% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 11% to tornadoes. Federal aid has come to Savanna Township households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2010.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 5,781 U.S. towns with household incomes like Savanna Township’s, it is healthier than 58%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Among adults in Savanna Township, 17% worry about having enough food. Two figures for adults locally: 14% have diabetes, 17% smoke cigarettes.
| Savanna Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Savanna Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.3% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 6.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.5% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In July, afternoons reach 84°; in January, nights fall to 13°, and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Savanna Township has about as many jobs (1,224) as working residents, but only 341 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 20.1 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Jobs in Savanna Township fell by 172 from 2013 to 2023, to 1,224. For working residents locally, the share who work locally is 27%. The top destinations are Savanna (24%), Clinton (7%) and Fulton (3%). The typical journey to work for Savanna Township comes to 20 minutes.
| Savanna Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Savanna Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Savanna Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
City in Carroll County, Illinois, US
Savanna is a city in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,783 at the 2020 census. Savanna is located along the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Plum River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Savanna Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savanna Township | #661 | C− | B+ | — | C− | C− |
| Washington Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mount Carroll Township | — | — | B+ | — | C− | C |
| York Township | #747 | D | B+ | — | C− | C |
Mount Carroll Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Savanna Township, Mount Carroll Township and York Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Washington Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Savanna Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Savanna Township grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #661 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
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+.