A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Normal Township$1,500/mo

Typical home $211K (Census) · tax rate 2.22% · or rent about $969/mo · Housing →

Urbana$1,510/mo

Typical home $208K (Zillow) · tax rate 2.43% · or rent about $972/mo · Housing →

Within $50 a month of each other.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Urbana places higher on 14 of 20 IL lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Illinois ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

–Normal TownshipNot graded DUrbanaSafer than 13% of U.S. towns

Schools

B+Normal TownshipBetter than 66% of districts in the state –UrbanaNot graded

Health

B+Normal TownshipHealthier than 74% of U.S. towns A−UrbanaHealthier than 77% of U.S. towns

6Normal Township

14Urbana

Lists won, of 20 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Highest graduation rateSchools · 669 towns #237#585 Most walkableOutdoors · 862 towns #506#121 Fastest growingGrowth · 859 towns #452#752 Most conserved landOutdoors · 838 towns #476#215 Most trailsOutdoors · 665 towns #366#185 Lowest depressionHealth · 861 towns #775#565 Highest incomeIncome · 862 towns #632#832 Fewest uninsuredHealth · 861 towns #342#507

Left end = #1 in Illinois. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Normal Township’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

Normal TownshipUrbana

Snow a year20″21″

January low16°F 18°F

July high86°F 85°F

Growing season (days)172d 190d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)47th 39th

Outdoors & history

Normal TownshipUrbana

Trails11 mi 9 mi

Conserved land2.9%7.5%

Settled1865 1833

National Register places—28

Archive photos18 12

Famous people born here41 76

Community

Normal TownshipUrbana

Library hours a week62 hrs 69 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

51 miles apart

And the people who already live in one and work in the other.

Normal TownshipMcLean County UrbanaIL

Normal Township ↔ Urbana51 miles apart

Who commutes between them

340 Normal Township residents work in Urbana (1.7% of its workers)

Work & commute in Normal Township →

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Illinois average

Normal TownshipUrbana

People

Population 52,417Highest 39,341Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census -1.1%Highest -7.1%Lowest

Median age 25±0.7Lowest 36% below IL 26.1±1.2Highest 33% below IL

Urbana and Normal Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 15.4%±1.3Highest IL: 21.8% 13.2%±1.7Lowest IL: 21.8%

Normal Township and Urbana are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 12.2%±1Highest IL: 17% 11.5%±1.3Lowest IL: 17%

Normal Township and Urbana are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 52.3%Lowest IL: 37.8% 56.7%Highest IL: 37.8%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 33%±2.1Lowest IL: 6.3% 35.6%±2.5Highest IL: 6.3%

Urbana and Normal Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $63,708±$7kHighest 24% below IL $45,346±$5kLowest 46% below IL

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $210,800±$7kHighest 20% below IL $184,900±$10kLowest 30% below IL

Rentmedian gross, monthly $969±$49Lowest 24% below IL $972±$33Highest 24% below IL

Urbana and Normal Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $4,686Highest 12% below IL $4,491Lowest 15% below IL

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 58.5%±6.3Highest IL: 47.9% 58.3%±4.5Lowest IL: 47.9%

Normal Township and Urbana are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 21.9%Lowest IL: 11.8% 28%Highest IL: 11.8%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 54.6%Highest IL: 67.1% 37.3%Lowest IL: 67.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1988Highest 17 yrs newer than IL 1980Lowest 9 yrs newer than IL

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 16 minHighest 41% below IL 14 minLowest 49% below IL

Work from home 13.1%±1.6Lowest IL: 15.9% 18.6%±2.6Highest IL: 15.9%

Work in townworking residents 20.4%Highest 20.1%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 4.3 miHighest 3.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.99Lowest 1.69Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Bloomington (35%)Champaign (38%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others 2% work in UrbanaFew work in Normal Township

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 2.9%Lowest 7.5%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 10.7 miHighest 8.5 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.3 miLowest 0.7 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 22Lowest 25Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 40.0Lowest 94.6Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #104 of 384 in IL—

School district ISU Laboratory Schools · DeWitt/Livingstn/Logan/McLean ROE—

High school in town Normal Community West High School—

Students per teacherat that high school 15.1 —

Illinois average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Normal Township neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Normal Township’s Town Square.

Urbana neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Urbana’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside Normal Township and Urbana

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Normal Township

+ Compare

Bloomington78,907 people · $203K homes

+ Compare

Bloomington City Township78,907 people · $203K homes

+ Compare

Normal53,569 people · $214K homes

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Dry Grove Township1,378 people · $262K homes

Towns like Normal Township

+ Compare

Champaign89,996 people · $211K homes

+ Compare

Champaign City Township89,996 people · $211K homes

+ Compare

Cunningham Township39,341 people · $185K homes

+ Compare

Edwardsville26,474 people · $300K homes

Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks Illinois towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Normal Township vs Urbana

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs about the same each month

Urbana places higher on 14 of 20 IL lists

What daily life feels like in each

51 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Normal Township and Urbana

Bordering Normal Township

Towns like Normal Township

Post to Normal Township

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