Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Strong in places, weak in others. Its lowest grade is for schools: its public schools trail just over four fifths of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. Where it does best is walkability — it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 84% of U.S. towns. Homes run about $91K for a typical one, 1.4 times the Champaign metro’s $66K median household income. Add health to its strengths (B+): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 71% of the country. Put together, the subjects come to a B− overall, ranking 493rd of 767 in Illinois. Set against the rest, it does better than 47% of U.S. towns. University of Illinois Arboretum, at 117 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
Where Urbana Township beats most towns.
Where Urbana Township’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 Urbana Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 210 in 1850, 38,336 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Urbana Township. Close and well known come first.
4 mi LandmarkAmerican Football House
5 mi Stadium & arenaGies Memorial Stadium
4 mi TheatreKrannert Center for the Performing Arts
15 mi MuseumOctave Chanute Aerospace Museum5 mi MuseumKrannert Art Museum
27 mi City parkRobert Allerton ParkAmerican 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 · Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Robert Allerton Park: D. Finnigan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Urbana 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Urbana Township.
Urbana Township is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of Illinois.
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hidaya Academy PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 35 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 2,874 working residents takes 16.2 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois. Jobs based here grew from 749 in 2013 to 1,309.
The top destinations are Champaign (32%), Urbana (25%) and Chicago (4%). Only 2% of working residents stay in Urbana Township for work; the rest commute out. The average trip to work for Urbana Township comes to 16 minutes, against 26 minutes in Illinois’ towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. In Urbana Township, 17% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Urbana Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 9,579 U.S. towns with household incomes like Urbana Township’s, it is healthier than 92%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
Among adults in Urbana Township, 12% smoke cigarettes. In Urbana Township, 34% of adults sleep under 7 hours, where Illinois’ towns sit at 35% and U.S. towns at 36%. The town tracks Illinois closely on all 32 CDC measures.
| Urbana Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 35% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 37% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails total 4.8 miles in 5 parks and preserves. Urbana Township’s trail density comes in at 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Urbana Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. University of Illinois Arboretum | 1 mi | 117 |
| 2. Busey Woods | 1 mi | 20 |
| 3. Ivanhoe Community Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A winter brings about 21 inches of snow, with January nights at 18° and July afternoons at 85°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
30% of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 38% across Illinois. For residents in Urbana Township, the share who are 65 or older is 25%.
| Urbana Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 29% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.2 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Urbana Township | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.3% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.3% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.8% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.2% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.6% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.9% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Urbana Township than in 60% of U.S. communities. 40% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 28%. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 1990: 3.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Urbana Township
About 2 of every 100 Urbana Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
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)
8 towns share a border with Urbana Township.
Champaign Township next door grades higher for schools (B− to Urbana Township’s C−) and lower for cost of living (C to B).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urbana Township | #493 | B− | B | — | C− | B+ |
| Urbana | #652 | C− | C | D | C− | A− |
| Cunningham Township | #567 | C | C | — | C− | B+ |
| Champaign | #624 | C− | C− | C− | C | B+ |
| Champaign City Township | #504 | B− | C− | — | C | A− |
| Philo Township | — | — | C | — | B | A− |
| Somer Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| St. Joseph Township | #288 | B+ | C+ | — | A | A− |
Philo Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Urbana Township, Cunningham Township, Champaign City Township, Philo Township and St. Joseph 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 Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Urbana Township grades B− overall, better than 47% of U.S. towns and #493 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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