Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Streator gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $126K for a typical one, or 1.8 years of the Ottawa area’s $72K median household income. It grades C− overall, 650th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $58K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line, and its schools rank behind 84% of the state's. Only 123 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns score lower on health. Streator has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Silas Williams House and Ruffin Drew Fletcher House. Streator is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 71% of U.S. towns.
Where Streator beats most towns.
Silas Williams HouseEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Streator is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,486 in 1870, a peak of 16,868 in 1960, 12,500 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1876 and a map from 1925 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Streator, 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 Streator.
Streator trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it is a long drive from an emergency room and has seen reported crime rise by about half.
Homes are within reach (about $127K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 22 miles. At 1.8 years of the Ottawa area’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $127K) costs less against local pay than in 85% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
At $852 a month, Streator’s median rent is where Illinois’ towns sit at $1,129 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. 63% of households own their home in Streator. Typical home values rose 4.6% in the year to September 2026.
| Streator | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $852 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The nearest emergency room, OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, is 20.8 miles away in a straight line. Against the 8,199 U.S. towns with household incomes like Streator’s, it is less healthy than 64%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
For Streator, that is above both the Illinois town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). Streator beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 17% of Streator adults smoke cigarettes.
| Streator | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Streator | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.7% | 6.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.4% | 10.3% |
| More smokers | 17.3% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Streator | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.6% | 3.7% | 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. City Park | 0.6 mi | 10 |
| 2. Oakland Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Bodznick Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here fell from 5,277 in 2013 to 3,660.
About one in 4 of Streator’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Streator has lost 1,617 jobs, to 3,660 in 2023. The average trip to work in Streator is 28 minutes.
| Streator | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Streator has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 16° and about 26 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes rose from 171 to 253 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Streator’s property crime rate is 18.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Streator | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Streator.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Streator; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Streator residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
3 places in Streator on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Streator.
City in Illinois, United States
Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately 81 miles (130 km) southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population of Streator was 12,500.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Streator.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streator | #650 | C− | A | C+ | C− | C− |
| Bruce Township | #632 | C− | A | — | C− | C− |
| Eagle Township | — | — | A | — | C− | C |
Eagle Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bruce Township and Eagle Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Streator with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Streator grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #650 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Jobs & income 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 A.
30 notable people were born here, including Clyde Tombaugh and Jerry Weller.
