Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 25,656, settled in 1876.
For most people who can afford it, yes. South Elgin grades B+ overall, 295th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The median household earns $127K. Residents are healthier than 81% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $377K, 4.1 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. South Elgin’s median household income is $127,000, where Illinois’ towns sit at $83,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. The biggest park or preserve is James "Pate" Philip State Park, at 51 acres. South Elgin is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where South Elgin beats most towns.
Where South Elgin’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far South Elgin is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 505 in 1890, 23,865 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1968 and 5 maps from 1949 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Elgin. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw40 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
22 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate ArenaSoldier 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 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in South Elgin, 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 South Elgin.
South Elgin owes part of its health edge to its incomes and has household incomes well above the Illinois norm.
Against the 4,836 U.S. towns with household incomes like South Elgin’s, it is healthier than 50%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
28% of adults have high blood pressure in South Elgin. South Elgin beats the Illinois average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 20% of adults binge drink in South Elgin.
| South Elgin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 35% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 78% | 79% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | South Elgin | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.5% | 3.3% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.6% | 5.9% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 71.9% | 75.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| South Elgin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.3% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kenyon Farm Forest Preserve | 0.5 mi | 17 |
| 2. Jim Hansen Park | 0.4 mi | 15 |
| 3. Robert Sperry Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave South Elgin for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in South Elgin grew to 7,180 in 2023, 1,379 more than in 2013. South Elgin’s average trip to work is 28 minutes.
| South Elgin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 11% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.4% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median rent in South Elgin is $1,640 a month. Typical home values rose 4.9% in the year to September 2026.
| South Elgin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,640 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
South Elgin has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 15° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median household earns $127,203, against $83,390 across Illinois, one input to its A for jobs and income.
Adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (39% statewide); people 65 and older are 12% of residents (17% statewide). South Elgin has grown 7.5% since 2020, to 25,656 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 38% of South Elgin adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| South Elgin | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 12% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 39 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.3 points). Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| South Elgin | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.7% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.6% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.2% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.3% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.9% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.2% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.9% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.8% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 48 flood insurance claims have been paid out in South Elgin.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
6 within 15 miles of the center of South Elgin
About 6 of every 100 South Elgin residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
South Elgin is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 23,865. In 2007, Money magazine named South Elgin as 82nd of 100 entries in its "America's Best Places to Live" edition and again in 2011 as 98th of 100 entries.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with South Elgin.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Elgin | #295 | B+ | C− | B+ | B | A− |
| Elgin · Elgin Township | #526 | C+ | C | B− | C+ | B |
| St. Charles Township | #146 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Bartlett | #223 | A− | D | A | C+ | A |
St. Charles Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Elgin Township and Elgin are one community, graded once. Compare South Elgin with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. South Elgin grades B+ overall, better than 73% of U.S. towns and #295 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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