Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Thornton’s best subject grade is an A− for health; its weakest is a D for schools. Thornton’s property crime rate is 20.6 per 1,000 residents, against 7.9 in Illinois’ towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. Thornton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Thornton beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Thornton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,033 in 1860, a low of 301 in 1870, 2,386 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 8 maps from 1892 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Thornton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw15 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw21 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Thornton, 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 Thornton.
Thornton beats the Illinois average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Thornton, below both Illinois’ towns (17%) and U.S. towns (17%). 31% of adults have obesity in Thornton.
| Thornton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 37% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 22% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Thornton | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 90% | 87.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.5% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Thornton’s violent crime rate is 2.2 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Thornton has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° 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 1980, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Thornton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Thornton for work: only 4% work in town. 15% of Thornton residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Thornton has lost 261 jobs, to 1,274 in 2023.
| Thornton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.1% | 11% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.8% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wampum Lake | — | 2 |
| 2. Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
19 within 15 miles of the center of Thornton
About 7 of every 100 Thornton residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Thornton is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 2,386 at the 2020 census. Thornton is home to the Thornton Quarry, one of the largest quarries in the world.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Thornton.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton | — | — | B+ | C | D | A− |
| South Holland | #743 | D | C− | C− | D | C+ |
| Homewood | #429 | B | C+ | C | B | A− |
| Thornton Township | #693 | D | C+ | — | C− | C |
| Bloom Township | #663 | C− | C+ | — | C− | C |
| Glenwood | #680 | C− | C | C | C− | B− |
Thornton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Thornton Township and Bloom Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Thornton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $155,000, 48% below the Illinois typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
_-_Chicago,_IL_-_June_2026.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}