Village · Kankakee County, Illinois

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Bourbonnais is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, part of the Kankakee, IL metro area. It has 18,078 residents. Bourbonnais, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 46 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,431 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #379 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an Amtrak station (low), average commute time (low) and dental care shortage (low). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), job growth (low) and math scores (low).

46Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,431 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #379 of 697 in IL
Population: 18,078 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 1,968.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 1707471

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety42#9,109/15,637
Economy44#8,787/15,631
Housing66#5,074/14,977
Health41#9,142/15,609
Healthcare54#7,166/15,650
Environment14#13,281/15,453
Education36#10,015/15,649
Infrastructure92#1,175/15,650
Community45#8,614/15,651
Leisure & amenities44#8,768/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bourbonnais, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Kankakee 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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
95/100Illinois 13 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauKankakee County value
Average commute time · low19.6 min
84/100Illinois 27.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Illinois 4.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationKankakee County value
Rent as share of income · low25.2%
82/100Illinois 29.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drought exposure · low8%
82/100Illinois 37%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAKankakee County value
Hospital quality rating · high4.0
80/100Illinois 3.0United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesKankakee County value

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.20%
4/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Job growth · low-3.2%
6/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataKankakee County value
Math scores · low2.65
11/100Illinois 2.90United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKankakee County value
Reading scores · low2.74
11/100Illinois 2.97United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKankakee County value
Primary care physicians · low37 /100k
18/100Illinois 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKankakee County value
Natural hazard risk · high76.4
22/100Illinois 29.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyKankakee County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
19,653 (2015-2019) → 18,078 (2020-2024)
−8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
2.8 /1k (2021) → 0.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−69%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.3% (2015-2019) → 94.4% (2020-2024)
+9.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
46.9% (2015-2019) → 39.5% (2020-2024)
−7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.4× (2015-2019) → 3.1× (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
13.2% (2015-2019) → 17.4% (2020-2024)
+4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Bourbonnais, Illinois improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 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+9.1 points85.3% → 94.4%

Declined1

Price / income+0.7×2.4× → 3.1×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Bourbonnais, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.2 min2015-2019	19.6 min2020-2024	−1.6 min	Within the margin of error	67%
Bachelor's degree or higher	37.3%2015-2019	34.1%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Broadband subscriptions	85.3%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	+9.1 points	Improved	55%
Child poverty rate	13.2%2015-2019	17.4%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Effective property tax rate	2.36%2015-2019	2.20%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
High school diploma or higher	94.1%2015-2019	95.3%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+0.7×	Declined	33%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4012015-2019	0.4022020-2024	+0.001	Within the margin of error	50%
Median household income	$73,8822015-2019	$81,7082020-2024	+11%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	9.1%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Rent as share of income	28.1%2015-2019	25.2%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Rent-burdened households	46.9%2015-2019	39.5%2020-2024	−7.4 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Unemployment rate	3.6%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.2%2015-2019	5.1%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	36%

“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 Bourbonnais, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bourbonnais, 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, Bourbonnais, Illinois itself moved +2.5 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

18,078 residents (±106)

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

6,179 households (±329)

Bourbonnais, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k11%†695
$25k–50k15%950
$50k–75k18%1,092

Homes

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

Owners and renters

6,179 households (±329)

Bourbonnais, Illinois
Illinois share

Own73%4,536
Rent27%1,643

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+6.3 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

8,628 workers (±514)

Bourbonnais, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone76%6,541
Carpool6.9%†598
Public transit0.6%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Kankakee, IL

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 Kankakee County, the county holding most of Bourbonnais's residents.

Kankakee County has 2,268 employer establishments, 214 for every 10,000 residents (0.86× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Illinois's), with 35,392 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,827. The Census Bureau also counts 6,794 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,268; 6,794 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 214; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 35,392
Average annual pay: $54,827; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	227	21.4	1.03×About typical	2,498	$84,259	254
Restaurants and other eating places	176	16.6	0.91×About typical	3,324	$20,046	50
Specialty trade contractors	136	12.8	0.83×About typical	716	$84,851	374
Truck transportation	87	8.2	1.63×More than typical	654	$64,668	192
Limited-service restaurants	81	7.7	0.95×About typical	1,609	$19,339	30
Automotive repair and maintenance	76	7.2	1.43×More than typical	390	$50,215	114
Full-service restaurants	75	7.1	0.92×About typical	1,490	$20,958	12
Lessors of real estate	75	7.1	0.58×Fewer than typical	156	$39,840	578
Offices of physicians	74	7	1.08×About typical	1,098	$88,667	25
Religious organizations	66	6.2	1.12×About typical	419	$24,055	—
Offices of other health practitioners	64	6	1.00×About typical	251	$43,801	117
Services to buildings and dwellings	64	6	0.90×About typical	285	$42,025	453

Rank places for an industry Open Kankakee County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 105,843 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

In FY2026, an estimated $38.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bourbonnais, Illinois: $2.11 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $38.1K; +120% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.11; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$38.1K100%

Top recipients

CARVELL CONSULTING, LLC$38.1K100%

Spending by fiscal year

13.7KFY2017
9.5KFY2018
15.8KFY2019
41.2KFY2020
-19.2KFY2021
4KFY2022
28.9KFY2023
26.8KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$38.1K100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bourbonnais, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

Bourbonnais, Illinois's figures are part of those of Kankakee County, IL ($3.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.2% of that total.

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

See federal money in Kankakee 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.

Bourbonnais, Illinois is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

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.

Kankakee County47100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Kankakee, IL43

Other cities and towns in Kankakee 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/1707471

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends