Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 71,353, settled in 1849. Public schools that outperform most of Illinois.
Few places in the country grade higher. Vernon Township earns an A+, ranked 36th of 767 in Illinois. Its schools rank ahead of 98% of Illinois towns, residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and the median household earns $146K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $173K, 1.9 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 72% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Vernon Township, where Illinois’ towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%. Vernon Township is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 27 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better.
Where Vernon Township beats most towns.
18% of the town is conserved land, across 67 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Vernon Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for schools (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 11%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1850 and 7 maps from 1900 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vernon Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw12 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
Big draw34 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
14 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaRate FieldWrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vernon 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 Vernon Township.
Vernon Township pairs an A+ overall with homes cheaper than the Illinois norm, has schools in the top 5% of Illinois and draws workers from Chicago and beyond.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #21 of 768 in Illinois.
44 miles of trail in 67 parks and preserves. The trail density in Vernon Township is 1.2 miles per square mile. Edward L Ryerson Conservation Area, at 533 acres with 7.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Vernon Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 18% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Edward L Ryerson Conservation Area | 7.1 mi | 533 |
| 2. Discover Financial Park | 1.4 mi | 24 |
| 3. North Park | 0.9 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A+ ranks #1 of the 768 Illinois towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $173K.
Three of its 28 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aptakisic Junior High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 940 | A+ |
| Adlai E Stevenson High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 4,758 | A+ |
| Daniel Wright Jr High SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 720 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 6.9% of its 23,154 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
28% of adults feel lonely in Vernon Township. Vernon Township beats the Illinois average on 23 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 12% of adults report frequent mental distress in Vernon Township.
| Vernon Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.3% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Vernon Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.9% | 15.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.1% | 13.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.4% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
66,659 jobs are based in Vernon Township, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 32.1% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
32% of Vernon Township workers work from home. Jobs based in Vernon Township grew to 66,659 in 2023, 14,133 more than in 2013. 15% of Vernon Township working residents work locally.
| Vernon Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 32% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $146,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Vernon Township grades A+ overall with a typical home of about $173K, below the Illinois typical value; only 48 of the 183 Illinois towns graded A− or better can say that. At 1.9 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $173K) costs less against local pay than in 82% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Vernon Township’s median rent is $1,949 a month. Typical home values rose 11% in the year to September 2026.
| Vernon Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,949 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 43% | 46% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Vernon Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 34 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 1979, 73 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Vernon Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
8 within 15 miles of the center of Vernon Township
About 7 of every 100 Vernon Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
Where Vernon Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Township in Illinois, United States
Vernon Township is a township in Lake County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 71,377. The name "Vernon Township" comes from George Washington's estate, Mount Vernon.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Vernon Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon Township | #36 | A+ | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| West Deerfield Township | #85 | A | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Wheeling Township | #199 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Libertyville Township | #40 | A+ | C− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Ela Township | #34 | A+ | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| Wheeling | #319 | B+ | C− | B+ | B+ | A− |
Vernon Township, West Deerfield Township, Wheeling Township, Libertyville Township and Ela Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Vernon Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Vernon Township grades A+ overall, better than 97% of U.S. towns and #36 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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