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%

Woodside Township$900/mo

Typical home $130K (Census) · tax rate 2.01% · or rent about $1,069/mo · Housing →

Springfield$1,200/mo

Typical home $172K (Zillow) · tax rate 2.07% · or rent about $975/mo · Housing →

The difference: $300 a month, about $3,600 a year, between Springfield and Woodside Township.

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

Woodside Township places higher on 11 of 19 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

–Woodside TownshipNot graded D−SpringfieldSafer than 2% of U.S. towns

Schools

CWoodside TownshipBetter than 31% of districts in the state –SpringfieldNot graded

Health

B+Woodside TownshipHealthier than 67% of U.S. towns C+SpringfieldHealthier than 43% of U.S. towns

11Woodside Township

8Springfield

Lists won, of 19 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Most conserved landOutdoors · 838 towns #696#289 Most trailsOutdoors · 665 towns #502#196 Fewest smokersHealth · 861 towns #247#547 Fastest growingGrowth · 859 towns #261#488 HealthiestHealth · 861 towns #397#602 Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 297 towns #92#158 Most walkableOutdoors · 862 towns #489#306 Lowest obesityHealth · 861 towns #576#737

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

Where they are

Woodside Township and Springfield share a border

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

Woodside TownshipSpringfield

Woodside Township ↔ Springfield4.3 miles apart · They share a border

Who commutes between them

3,202 Woodside Township residents work in Springfield (62.7% of its workers)

543 Springfield residents work in Woodside Township (1.2% of its workers)

Work & commute in Woodside Township →

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

Woodside TownshipSpringfield

Snow a year22″22″

January low20°F 20°F

July high87°F 87°F

Growing season (days)187d 187d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)40th 40th

Outdoors & history

Woodside TownshipSpringfield

Trails2 mi 47 mi

Conserved land0.9%5.5%

Settled—1821

National Register places—45

Archive photos6 —

Community

Woodside TownshipSpringfield

Library hours a week—51 hrs

Colleges in town—3

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.

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

Woodside TownshipSpringfield

People

Population 11,416Lowest 113,330Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +2.1%Highest -1.6%Lowest

Median age 43.4±3.2Highest 11% above IL 41±0.6Lowest 5% above IL

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

Kids under 18 18.9%±3.6Lowest IL: 21.8% 20.8%±0.8Highest IL: 21.8%

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

Age 65+ 22.2%±2.6Highest IL: 17% 19.9%±0.8Lowest IL: 17%

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

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 35.9%Lowest IL: 37.8% 36.3%Highest IL: 37.8%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 3.1%±1.1Lowest IL: 6.3% 5.2%±0.5Highest IL: 6.3%

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $73,007±$5kHighest 12% below IL $66,064±$3kLowest 21% below IL

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

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $130,300±$11kLowest 51% below IL $162,100±$4kHighest 38% below IL

Rentmedian gross, monthly $1,069±$58Highest 16% below IL $975±$21Lowest 23% below IL

Property taxmedian, yearly $2,619Lowest 51% below IL $3,362Highest 37% below IL

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 43.1%±11.2Lowest IL: 47.9% 47.9%±3Highest IL: 47.9%

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

Below poverty line 11.6%Lowest IL: 11.8% 16.8%Highest IL: 11.8%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 75.8%Highest IL: 67.1% 64.3%Lowest IL: 67.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1957Lowest 14 yrs older than IL 1972Highest 1 yr newer than IL

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 18 minHighest 36% below IL 17 minLowest 37% below IL

Work from home 12.7%±2.9Lowest IL: 15.9% 14.5%±1.5Highest IL: 15.9%

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

Work in townworking residents 5.2%Lowest 63.5%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 4.3 mi 4.3 mi

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.48Lowest 2.24Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Springfield (63%)Chicago (2%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others 63% work in Springfield1% work in Woodside Township

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 0.9%Lowest 5.5%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 2.1 miLowest 46.5 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.2 miLowest 0.7 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 6Lowest 54Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 42.0Lowest 68.2Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #368 of 384 in IL—

School district Springfield SD 186—

High school in town None in town—

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.

Woodside Township neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Woodside Township’s Town Square.

Springfield neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Springfield’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside Woodside Township and Springfield

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

Bordering Woodside Township

+ Compare

Capital Township111,650 people · $163K homes

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Jerome1,807 people · $128K homes

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Southern View1,751 people · $105K homes

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Leland Grove1,517 people · $274K homes

Towns like Woodside Township

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Highland10,262 people · $203K homes

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Glenwood8,603 people · $198K homes

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Fondulac Township12,186 people · $163K homes

+ Compare

Helvetia Township8,328 people · $213K 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.

Woodside Township vs Springfield

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $300 more a month in Springfield

Woodside Township places higher on 11 of 19 IL lists

Woodside Township and Springfield share a border

What daily life feels like in each

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Woodside Township and Springfield

Bordering Woodside Township

Towns like Woodside Township

Post to Woodside Township

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