Sparta TownshipIL
A town of 1,022, settled in 1852.
Is Sparta Township a good place to live?
The best of Sparta Township’s subject grades is an A for cost of living. On cost of living, just 118 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns do better. Sparta Township’s median rent is $636 a month, below both the Illinois town median ($1,129 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). The biggest park or preserve is Fireman's Park, at 29 acres. Sparta Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,022 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Sparta Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Sparta Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Sparta Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sparta 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 Sparta Township.
Most of Sparta Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.3 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Sparta Township for work: only 1% work in town. Sparta Township’s average trip to work is 22 minutes, against 26 minutes in Illinois’ towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. The median household income in Sparta Township is $69,000.
| Sparta Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.2% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Sparta Township
Sparta Township has cold winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 15° and about 26 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Sparta Township faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Sparta Township since 1993.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On CDC estimates, Sparta Township is healthier than 55% of U.S. towns
Sparta Township beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 37% of adults have high blood pressure in Sparta Township.
| Sparta Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Sparta Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.4% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.2% | 13.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.1% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Sparta Township has set aside 0.6% of its land for conservation
1.6 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fireman's Park | — | 29 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Sparta Township
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Sparta Township
About 4 of every 100 Sparta Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
99% of working residents leave Sparta Township for work
Where Sparta Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Sparta Township
Township in Illinois, United States
Sparta Township is one of twenty-one townships in Knox County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,064 and it contained 511 housing units.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1852
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 797 ft
Questions about Sparta Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Sparta Township, IL expensive?
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 A.