Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Winthrop Harbor's standout: it has 6 miles of trail and 30% conserved land. Overall it grades C+, 553rd of 767 graded towns in Illinois. Natural-hazard risk is low. 30% of the land in Winthrop Harbor is conserved, where Illinois’ towns sit at 3.6% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On civic life, just 111 of Illinois’ 1,240 towns do worse. Henry I. Paddock House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Winthrop Harbor beats most towns.
29.7% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Winthrop Harbor is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 439 in 1910, 6,705 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 5 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Winthrop Harbor. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw10 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great America3.0M visitors a year
33 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
30 mi MuseumMcDonald's #1 Store Museum
39 mi Stadium & arenaFiserv Forum
39 mi Park & preserveLincoln ParkWrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Six Flags Great America: Feather Better, CC BY 4.0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · McDonald's #1 Store Museum: Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Fiserv Forum: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lincoln Park: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Winthrop Harbor, 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 Winthrop Harbor.
Winthrop Harbor carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding), has cooler summers than almost anywhere else in Illinois and is one of Illinois’s best towns for the outdoors.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #2 of 768 in Illinois.
Trails run 5.5 miles in 6 parks and preserves. Winthrop Harbor’s concentration of trails is 1.2 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Illinois’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. North Point Marina, at 350 acres with 5.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. North Point Marina | 5.1 mi | 350 |
| 2. Spring Bluff Forest Preserve | — | 232 |
| 3. Mshkodé Forest Preserve | — | 124 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $245 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA puts nearly two fifths of Winthrop Harbor’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 26% to cold waves. 4 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 2009. Households locally have drawn federal disaster aid in 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2013.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Winthrop Harbor has 453 jobs for its 2,915 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The share of residents in Winthrop Harbor who live below the poverty line: 5.2%. Most working residents leave Winthrop Harbor for work: only 3% work in town. The town’s mean commuting time stands at 30 minutes. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Winthrop Harbor dropped by 36, to 453.
| Winthrop Harbor | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.2% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Median household income | $96,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 80.9°, the lowest of 2,886 Illinois places with climate records; January nights average 17.4°.
About 36 inches of snow falls in a winter. Winters in Winthrop Harbor are chilly, snowy and summers pleasant. The January low for Winthrop Harbor comes to 17°F.
| Winthrop Harbor | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 81°F | 84°F | 85°F |
| January low | 17°F | 17°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,208 U.S. towns with household incomes like Winthrop Harbor’s, it is less healthy than 55%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
For adults in Winthrop Harbor, the share who have high blood pressure is 37%. Against the Illinois average, Winthrop Harbor comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 3. Two figures for adults locally: 33% sleep under 7 hours, 31% feel lonely.
| Winthrop Harbor | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Winthrop Harbor | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 66.2% | 60.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.6% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Winthrop Harbor's reported crime rate is well below Illinois's. Its level of property crime stands at 3.5 per 1,000 residents. 5 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Winthrop Harbor | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Home values rose 61% in five years, to about $320K, against 30% across Illinois.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 15%. Among households in Winthrop Harbor, 87% are owner-occupiers. The town’s typical rent is $1,313 a month.
| Winthrop Harbor | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 87% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,313 a month | $1,128 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of Winthrop Harbor
About 3 of every 100 Winthrop Harbor residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Winthrop Harbor’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 towns share a border with Winthrop Harbor.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winthrop Harbor | #553 | C+ | C | — | C | B |
| Benton Township | #643 | C− | C | — | C− | C+ |
| Zion · Zion Township | #698 | D | C+ | C | D | C |
Winthrop Harbor and Benton Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Zion Township and Zion are one community, graded once. Compare Winthrop Harbor with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Winthrop Harbor grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #553 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B for health and C for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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