Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Wheaton earns an A+, ranked 49th of 767 in Illinois. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 97% of the country, the median household earns $120K, and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 86% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $507K, 5.6 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 65% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Wheaton, where Illinois’ towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%. Wheaton is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Wheaton is home to Wheaton College.
Where Wheaton beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Wheaton | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.1% | 9.9% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Wheaton is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 7%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 645 in 1860, 53,970 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1881 and 7 maps from 1908 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wheaton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw27 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
15 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 Wheaton, 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 Wheaton.
Wheaton has less no health insurance than most of Illinois and sees little violent crime, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
The median property tax bill is $9,443, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
A typical home in Wheaton is worth about $507,000, up 5.2% in a year, 71% above the Illinois typical home. The rent at the middle of the market for Wheaton comes to $1,799 a month. On the market here: a median 35 days to sell.
| Wheaton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,799 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 44% | 46% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Illinois is no health insurance: 5.1% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 9.9% statewide.
Wheaton: nearly one in ten adults smoke cigarettes. Nearly a tenth of Wheaton adults report frequent physical distress.
| Wheaton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.3% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Wheaton | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.1% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.2% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.7% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Count the trails in 46 parks and preserves and they come to 8.1 miles. The biggest park or preserve is Belleau Woods Forest Preserve, at 92 acres. Wheaton’s trail density comes in at 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Wheaton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.4% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. North Side Park | 2.2 mi | 66 |
| 2. Lincoln Marsh Natural Area | 1.1 mi | 72 |
| 3. Seven Gables Park | 0.9 mi | 62 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 18 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
In Wheaton, the level of violent crime is 0.3 per 1,000 residents. Its property crime rate stands at 4.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Wheaton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
A winter brings about 42 inches of snow, with January nights at 16° and July afternoons at 84°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
25.7% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
For half of commuters, work is under 11 miles away. The share of workers in Wheaton who work from home: 26%. The top destinations are Chicago (18%), Naperville (5%) and Glen Ellyn (4%). Jobs based here fell to 20,528 in 2023, 2,002 fewer than in 2013.
| Wheaton | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 26% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $120,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
152 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 20 properties have flooded more than once.
Flood insurance has paid out on 152 claims in Wheaton since 1978. Compared with 57% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is lower. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2013. Expected losses in Wheaton break down as 55% from inland flooding and 20% from cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
13 within 15 miles of the center of Wheaton
About 11 of every 100 Wheaton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
6 places in Wheaton on the National Register of Historic Places.
25 notable people were born in Wheaton.
City in Illinois, United States
Wheaton is a city in and the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is located in Milton and Winfield Townships, approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, Wheaton's population was 53,970, making it the 27th-most populous municipality in the state.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Wheaton.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheaton | #49 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Glen Ellyn | #19 | A+ | C− | A− | A | A+ |
| Milton Township | #121 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Winfield Township | #347 | B+ | C− | — | B+ | A− |
| Carol Stream | #147 | A | C− | A− | B+ | A |
| Winfield | #17 | A+ | C− | A | A− | A |
| Lisle | #20 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
Milton Township and Winfield Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Wheaton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Wheaton grades A+ overall, better than 96% of U.S. towns and #49 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. Wheaton reports less crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade: 18 violent and 251 property crimes in 2025.
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.
25 notable people were born here, including Grote Reber and Dennis Dugan.
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