Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Winnetka earns an A+, ranked 10th of 767 in Illinois. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally, the median household earns $250K, and its public schools beat 98% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $1.9 million for a typical one and 21.3 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 87% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Winnetka, against 29% in Illinois’ towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. On the outdoors, just 43 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better.
Where Winnetka beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Winnetka | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5% | 15.9% |
Henry Demarest Lloyd House is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 584 in 1880, 12,744 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 6 maps from 1899 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Winnetka is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Winnetka. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw24 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
10 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate ArenaWrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Winnetka, 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 Winnetka.
Winnetka is the healthiest town in Illinois, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Illinois and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
At 21.3 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $1.94M) costs more against local pay than in any other Illinois town; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Home values rose 54% in five years, to about $1.94M, against 30% across Illinois.
Winnetka’s median rent is $1,842 a month. Typical home values rose 15% in the year to September 2026. 92% of households own their home in Winnetka.
| Winnetka | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,842 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 92% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5.6 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. The trail density in Winnetka is 1.4 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Skokie Lagoons South, at 133 acres.
| Winnetka | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crow Island Woods | 0.9 mi | 17 |
| 2. Skokie Lagoons South | 0.8 mi | 133 |
| 3. Centennial Park | 0.4 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
It is the healthiest of the 767 Illinois towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with Illinois is food insecurity: 5% of its 8,815 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.9% statewide.
24% of Winnetka adults have obesity. Only 2 of the 767 Illinois towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Winnetka. 26% of Winnetka adults have high blood pressure.
| Winnetka | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 5.6% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Winnetka | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5% | 15.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.5% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.1 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Winnetka has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 18° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
138 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 25 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 138 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Winnetka.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
29.2% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Illinois.
Jobs based in Winnetka grew to 4,222 in 2023, 386 more than in 2013. Most working residents leave Winnetka for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Chicago (48%), Evanston (4%) and Northbrook (3%).
| Winnetka | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $250,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 1.6% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.6% | 8.4% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
19 within 15 miles of the center of Winnetka
About 3 of every 100 Winnetka residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
9.5% of the town is conserved land, across 19 parks and preserves.
10 places in Winnetka on the National Register of Historic Places.
23 notable people were born in Winnetka.
Village in Illinois, United States
Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, 17 miles (27 km) north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,508 as of the 2026 census. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the United States in terms of household income. It was the second-ranked Illinois community on Bloomberg's 2019 Richest Places Annual Index. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Winnetka's median household income exceeded $250,000 in 2023.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Winnetka.
At #10 in IL, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Glencoe (A+) comes closest.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnetka | #10 | A+ | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
| New Trier Township | #45 | A+ | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Glencoe | #11 | A+ | D− | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Kenilworth | — | — | C | A+ | A+ | A+ |
| Northfield | #26 | A+ | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
Kenilworth has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. New Trier Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Winnetka with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Winnetka grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #10 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. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
23 notable people were born here, including Rock Hudson and Chris O'Donnell.
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