Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,549, settled in 1856.
Walnut Township’s best subject grade is an A+ for cost of living; its weakest is a C for incomes. Only 82 of Illinois’ 1,284 towns score higher on cost of living. The biggest park or preserve is Ross Wildlife Area, at 63 acres. Walnut Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Walnut Township beats most towns.
Where Walnut 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 Walnut Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 515 in 1880, 1,311 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1949 and 2 maps from 1949 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Walnut 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 Walnut Township.
Most working residents leave Walnut Township for work: only 11% work in town. At 19 minutes, Walnut Township’s average trip to work is below both Illinois’ towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Walnut Township has lost 178 jobs, to 442 in 2023.
| Walnut Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.8% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Bureau Valley CUSD 340. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bureau Valley NorthLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 183 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Walnut Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 14° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Walnut Township beats the Illinois average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 15% of adults report frequent physical distress in Walnut Township, against 13% in Illinois’ towns and 14% across U.S. towns. 38% of Walnut Township adults have high blood pressure.
| Walnut Township | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Walnut Township | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.6% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.3% | 13.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.4% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ross Wildlife Area | — | 63 |
| 2. Centennial Park | — | 29 |
| 3. Blue Raider Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Walnut Township; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Walnut Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Village in Illinois, United States
Walnut is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,311 at the 2020 census, down from 1,416 at the 2010 census and 1,461 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village was incorporated on October 26, 1876.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Walnut Township.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Township | — | — | A+ | — | B | C+ |
| Greenville Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bureau Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ohio Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Walnut Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Walnut Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Greenville Township, Bureau Township and Ohio Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Walnut Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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+.