Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. West Chicago grades B overall, 378th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. It has 24 miles of trail. Its schools outperform 75% of the state's. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $389K for a typical one and 4.3 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. West Chicago’s trail density is 1.5 miles per square mile, above both the Illinois town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). West Chicago has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Turner Town Hall. West Chicago's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 83% of U.S. towns.
Where West Chicago beats most towns.
9.6% of the town is conserved land, across 15 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far West Chicago is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,001 in 1880, 25,614 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1943 and 7 maps from 1908 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West Chicago. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw34 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
19 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate ArenaSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Chicago, 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 West Chicago.
West Chicago carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding), gets more snow than almost anywhere else in Illinois and costs less than Batavia or any other town next door.
That puts West Chicago above both Illinois’ towns (3.6%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is West Chicago Prairie Forest Preserve, 314 acres with 2.8 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. West Chicago Prairie Forest Preserve | 2.8 mi | 314 |
| 2. Kress Creek Farms Park | 1.6 mi | 134 |
| 3. Reed-Keppler Park | 1.1 mi | 73 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 95% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $214 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in West Chicago is 15 of 100. Since 1978, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in West Chicago.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Batavia is next at $464K. 61.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 47.9% across Illinois.
West Chicago’s median rent is $1,469 a month. The typical West Chicago home is worth about $389,000, up 4.3% in a year, 31% above the Illinois typical home.
| West Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,469 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
All 6 graded neighbors score healthier than its B+, from Wayne Township (A) to Geneva Township (A).
West Chicago beats the Illinois average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 16% of West Chicago adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| West Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 22% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | West Chicago | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.8% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.6% | 24.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 16.2% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The St. Charles 0.1 E weather station records that 46 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, the highest of 2,880 Illinois places with climate records.
West Chicago has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84° and January nights drop to 15°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave West Chicago for work: only 11% work in town. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in West Chicago. Since 2013, West Chicago has added 1,134 jobs, to 16,644 in 2023.
| West Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $100,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois. 21% never finished high school.
| West Chicago | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 11% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 26% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 36.3 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 29% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.7 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| West Chicago | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.9% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.3% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.3% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.1% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.1% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 21.2% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.6% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.3% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.8% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.2% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
16 within 15 miles of the center of West Chicago
About 6 of every 100 West Chicago residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
2 places in West Chicago on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in West Chicago.
City in Illinois, United States
West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,614 at the 2020 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner, after its founder, John Bice Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) in 1855. The city was initially established around the first junction of railroad lines in Illinois, and today is still served by the Union Pacific West Metra service via West Chicago station.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with West Chicago.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Chicago | #378 | B | D | B+ | A− | B+ |
| St. Charles | #153 | A | D | B | A | A |
| Wayne | — | — | D− | — | B | A |
| Wayne Township | #394 | B | D | — | B− | A |
| Batavia | #97 | A | C− | B+ | A− | A |
| Geneva Township | #68 | A | D | — | A | A |
| St. Charles Township | #146 | A | D | — | A | A |
Wayne has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Wayne, Wayne Township, Geneva Township and St. Charles Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare West Chicago with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. West Chicago grades B overall, better than 63% of U.S. towns and #378 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety 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.
6 notable people were born here, including John Konchar and Harris W. Fawell.
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