Village · Moultrie County, Illinois

Bethany, Illinois

Bethany is a village in Moultrie County, Illinois. It has 1,176 residents. Bethany, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 50 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,773 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #320 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), public libraries (high) and rent as share of income (low). It ranks worst on dentists (low), preventable hospital stays (high) and public EV charging ports (low).

50Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,773 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #320 of 697 in IL
Population: 1,176 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,204.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1705612

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety85#2,288/15,637
Economy37#9,838/15,631
Housing74#3,909/14,977
Health54#7,201/15,609
Healthcare19#12,678/15,650
Environment20#12,408/15,453
Education38#9,771/15,649
Infrastructure46#8,491/15,650
Community68#5,061/15,651
Leisure & amenities69#4,923/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bethany, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Moultrie County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Property crime rate · low177 /100k
99/100Illinois 1,508 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMoultrie County value
Public libraries · high2.8 /10k
95/100Illinois 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMoultrie County value
Rent as share of income · low23.1%
95/100Illinois 29.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Pharmacies · high2.8 /10k
94/100Illinois 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMoultrie County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Illinois 6.2 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMoultrie County value
Food environment index · high9.1
89/100Illinois 8.4United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMoultrie County value

Weaknesses

Dentists · low14 /100k
2/100Illinois 86 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMoultrie County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,761 /100k
3/100Illinois 3,343 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMoultrie County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Illinois 4.8 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyMoultrie County value
Primary care physicians · low21 /100k
5/100Illinois 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMoultrie County value
Distance to an airport · high112 mi
7/100Illinois 35 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMoultrie County value
Distance to an emergency room · high14.1 mi
8/100Illinois 4.0 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMoultrie County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
1,251 (2015-2019) → 1,176 (2020-2024)
−6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
74.0% (2015-2019) → 94.4% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
29.1% (2015-2019) → 17.4% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
40.0% (2015-2019) → 29.8% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.7× (2015-2019) → 2.4× (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
15.7% (2015-2019) → 22.2% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bethany, Illinois improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+20 points74.0% → 94.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Bethany, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.7 min2015-2019	23.6 min2020-2024	−2.1 min	Within the margin of error	72%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.7%2015-2019	22.2%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Broadband subscriptions	74.0%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	+20 points	Improved	91%
Effective property tax rate	2.16%2015-2019	1.77%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	83%
High school diploma or higher	93.3%2015-2019	94.3%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Home price to income ratio	1.7×2015-2019	2.4×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	38%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3952015-2019	0.4742020-2024	+0.080	Within the margin of error	8%
Median household income	$46,9382015-2019	$44,5832020-2024	−5%	Within the margin of error	5%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	25.0%2015-2019	23.1%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Rent-burdened households	40.0%2015-2019	29.8%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	83%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bethany, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bethany, Illinois in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bethany, Illinois itself moved +1.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,176 residents (±271)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

558 households (±100)

Bethany, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k13%†70
$25k–50k41%†229
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

558 households (±100)

Bethany, Illinois
Illinois share

Own67%373
Rent33%†185

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−12.2 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

552 workers (±128)

Bethany, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone91%503
Carpool2.4%†13
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Moultrie County, the county holding most of Bethany's residents.

Moultrie County has 336 employer establishments, 234 for every 10,000 residents (0.94× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Illinois's), with 5,029 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,534. The Census Bureau also counts 1,116 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 336; 1,116 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 234; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 5,029
Average annual pay: $50,534; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Moultrie County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	31	21.6	1.40×More than typical	232	$68,625	126
Construction of buildings	20	13.9	1.84×More than typical	103	$78,660	30
Ambulatory health care services	18	12.6	0.60×Fewer than typical	107	$56,785	17
Religious organizations	18	12.6	2.26×More than typical	65	$18,323	—
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	14	9.8	3.10×More than typical	133	$63,361	25
Restaurants and other eating places	13	9.1	0.49×Fewer than typical	143	$20,902	3
Services to buildings and dwellings	10	7	1.03×About typical	37	$37,297	108
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	9	6.3	5.18×Too few to compare	40	$21,450	—
Truck transportation	9	6.3	1.24×Too few to compare	182	$52,808	47
Banks and credit unions	8	5.6	1.73×Too few to compare	114	$46,833	3
Insurance agencies and brokerages	8	5.6	1.27×Too few to compare	20	$35,850	10
Offices of other health practitioners	8	5.6	0.92×Too few to compare	20	$31,650	6

Rank places for an industry Open Moultrie County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 14,339 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bethany is mostly in Moultrie County.

See federal money in Moultrie County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bethany, Illinois is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mary E. MillerR-IL-15 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 3.9%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Moultrie County58100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Moultrie County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1705612

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends