Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Urbana's standout: few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Overall it grades C−, 652nd among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 77% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it has 8 miles of trail. Its weakest subject is safety: its police reported 177 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 88% of U.S. towns. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Urbana, against 8.4% in Illinois’ towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include University of Illinois Observatory and University of Illinois Astronomical Observatory. Urbana's public schools trail 85% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation.
Where Urbana beats most towns.
Morrow Plots, University of Illinois is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 28 National Register listings are more than in 98% of Illinois towns with a listing.
Census counts: 210 in 1850, 38,336 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1857 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Urbana is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for safety (better than 12%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Urbana. Close and well known come first.
in town LandmarkAmerican Football House
2 mi Stadium & arenaGies Memorial Stadium
in town TheatreKrannert Center for the Performing Arts2 mi MuseumKrannert Art Museum
in town MuseumSpurlock Museum
13 mi MuseumOctave Chanute Aerospace MuseumAmerican Football House: BanjoZebra, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gies Memorial Stadium: T.J. Blakeman, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Krannert Center for the Performing Arts: Aries Liang, Public domain · Spurlock Museum: Daderot, CC0 · Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Urbana, 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 Urbana.
Urbana is shaped by its college students, draws workers from Champaign and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
20,968 jobs are based in Urbana, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14.2 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
About one in 5 of Urbana’s working residents works in town. Urbana’s average trip to work is 14 minutes. Jobs based in Urbana grew to 20,968 in 2023, 3,333 more than in 2013.
| Urbana | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 19% | 11% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
8.5 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves. The trail density in Urbana is 0.7 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Meadowbrook Park, 129 acres with 1.8 miles of trail.
| Urbana | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Meadowbrook Park | 1.8 mi | 129 |
| 2. Weaver Park | 1.4 mi | 60 |
| 3. University of Illinois Arboretum | 1.2 mi | 37 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Urbana reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 88% report less.
| Urbana | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 24.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.4 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 4,141 U.S. towns with household incomes like Urbana’s, it is healthier than 99%, so its A− isn’t only a matter of income.
26% of Urbana adults have high blood pressure.
| Urbana | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 35% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 78% | 79% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Urbana | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.1% | 5.9% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.9% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
37% of households own their home in Urbana. Typical home values rose 5% in the year to September 2026. 58% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in Urbana.
| Urbana | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 37% | 75% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 58% | 46% | 48% |
| Median rent | $972 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Urbana has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 18° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Urbana.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Urbana
College town 36 of every 100 Urbana residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Urbana’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
28 places in Urbana on the National Register of Historic Places.
51 notable people were born in Urbana.
City in Illinois, United States
Urbana () is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had about 236,000 residents in 2020. Urbana is notable for sharing the main campus of the University of Illinois with its twin city of Champaign.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Urbana.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Champaign (C−) is closest.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urbana | #652 | C− | C | D | C− | A− |
| Cunningham Township | #567 | C | C | — | C− | B+ |
| Urbana Township | #493 | B− | B | — | C− | B+ |
| Somer Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Champaign | #624 | C− | C− | C− | C | B+ |
| Champaign City Township | #504 | B− | C− | — | C | A− |
Cunningham Township, Urbana Township and Champaign City Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Somer Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Urbana with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Urbana grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #652 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A− for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
51 notable people were born here, including Roger Ebert and Robert W. Holley.
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