WatermanIL
A town of 1,640, settled in 1883. 2.1 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Illinois town.
Is Waterman a good place to live?
The best of Waterman’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and an A+ for civic life; the weakest is a C for walkability. Waterman’s average trip to work is 39 minutes, where Illinois’ towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Only 35 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score higher on hazard risk. Only 36 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns score higher on civic life. Waterman has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Waterman stand out
Where Waterman beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
Typical home value
96% of working residents leave Waterman for work
Where Waterman’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Waterman grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Waterman is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Waterman: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Waterman, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Waterman.
Very low risk in Waterman, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 85% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With 0.6 jobs for every working resident, most of Waterman’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Waterman for work: only 4% work in town. Waterman’s median household income is $100,000, above both Illinois’ towns ($83,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000). Jobs based in Waterman fell to 358 in 2023, 53 fewer than in 2013.
| Waterman | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $100,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.3% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.6% | 11% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
On CDC estimates, Waterman is healthier than 71% of U.S. towns
Waterman beats the Illinois average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 21% of Waterman adults binge drink.
| Waterman | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Waterman | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.9% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.6% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Waterman has four seasons and pleasant summers
Waterman has cold winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 14° and about 30 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Waterman stands out in Illinois and nationally, with property crime lower than most
Waterman’s property crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents. Waterman's reported crime rate is well below Illinois's. No violent crimes were reported in 2024.
| Waterman | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 9.3 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.7 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Waterman has set aside 1.1% of its land for conservation
1.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The trail density in Waterman is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Waterman | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lions Park | 0.3 mi | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Waterman’s typical home value is about $297K
The typical Waterman home is worth about $297,000, up 6.7% in a year, close to the Illinois typical home. 88% of households own their home in Waterman.
| Waterman | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $877 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Starved Rock State Park and 25 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Waterman. Close and well known come first.
33 mi State parkStarved Rock State Park
34 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum38 mi Park & preserveMazon Creek
36 mi MuseumMorton Arboretum
11 mi TheatreEgyptian Theatre, DeKalb
39 mi Stadium & arenaBMO CenterPhoto credits
Starved Rock State Park: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Morton Arboretum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb: Andy McMurray, CC BY 2.5 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0
Everything we know about Waterman
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Waterman
About 5 of every 100 Waterman residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About Waterman
Village in Illinois, United States
Waterman is a village in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,433 at the 2020 census. The village is known for the DeKalb Ag seed corn processing plant, now owned by the German company, Bayer. The "Waterman and Western" train line that operated in Lion's Club Park was a 1/3 scale train line with a 1/2 mile train line circling the park and was a hobby of a local resident before it was destroyed by a fire in 2021.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 860 ft
- ZIP code
- 60556
Questions about Waterman
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Waterman, IL a good place to live?
2.1 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Illinois town.
Is Waterman, IL expensive?
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−.
What is Waterman, IL known for?
2 notable people were born here, including Duane Swanson and David H. Baker.