Village · McLean County, Illinois

Colfax, Illinois

Colfax is a village in McLean County, Illinois, part of the Bloomington, IL metro area. It has 1,054 residents. Colfax, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 55 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,099 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #281 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on mammography screening (high), distance to an Amtrak station (low) and flu vaccinations (high). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), distance to an airport (high) and child care cost burden (high).

55Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,099 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #281 of 697 in IL
Population: 1,054 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,904.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 1715495

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety59#6,476/15,637
Economy33#10,520/15,631
Housing70#4,544/14,977
Health64#5,607/15,609
Healthcare67#5,222/15,650
Environment17#12,896/15,453
Education51#7,675/15,649
Infrastructure31#10,770/15,650
Community71#4,574/15,651
Leisure & amenities72#4,305/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Mammography screening · high61.0%
99/100Illinois 47.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcLean County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
98/100Illinois 13 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMcLean County value
Flu vaccinations · high55.0%
93/100Illinois 48.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcLean County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
93/100Illinois 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Injury deaths · low62 /100k
86/100Illinois 80 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcLean County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Illinois 4.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMcLean County value

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.09%
6/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Distance to an airport · high109 mi
8/100Illinois 35 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMcLean County value
Child care cost burden · high40.2%
8/100Illinois 30.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcLean County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.539
11/100Illinois 0.481United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Mental health care shortage · high18.0
11/100Illinois 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMcLean County value
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Illinois 1.5 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,143 (2015-2019) → 1,054 (2020-2024)
−7.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
6.0% (2015-2019) → 20.8% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
48.2% (2015-2019) → 34.3% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.1% (2015-2019) → 91.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
28.1% (2015-2019) → 22.2% (2020-2024)
−5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$55,859 (2015-2019) → $70,625 (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Colfax, Illinois improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 13 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+12 points79.1% → 91.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Colfax, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.7 min2015-2019	30.7 min2020-2024	+4.0 min	Within the margin of error	14%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.5%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Broadband subscriptions	79.1%2015-2019	91.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	70%
Effective property tax rate	2.18%2015-2019	2.09%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
High school diploma or higher	94.2%2015-2019	96.7%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	71%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4732015-2019	0.5392020-2024	+0.066	Within the margin of error	11%
Median household income	$55,8592015-2019	$70,6252020-2024	+26%	Within the margin of error	47%
Poverty rate	9.2%2015-2019	14.4%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	28.1%2015-2019	22.2%2020-2024	−5.9 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Rent-burdened households	48.2%2015-2019	34.3%2020-2024	−14 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Unemployment rate	7.1%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.1%2015-2019	5.0%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	26%

“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 Colfax, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Colfax, 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, Colfax, Illinois itself moved +5.5 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

1,054 residents (±152)

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

395 households (±56)

Colfax, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k16%†63
$25k–50k16%†64
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

395 households (±56)

Colfax, Illinois
Illinois share

Own72%283
Rent28%112

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−7.2 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

490 workers (±97)

Colfax, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone68%333
Carpool16%†76
Public transit0.0%0

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 Bloomington, 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 McLean County, the county holding most of Colfax's residents.

McLean County has 3,481 employer establishments, 204 for every 10,000 residents (0.82× the US rate of 248; 0.80× Illinois's), with 75,617 paid employees at an average annual pay of $72,957. The Census Bureau also counts 10,895 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,481; 10,895 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 204; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 75,617
Average annual pay: $72,957; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	288	16.8	0.92×About typical	6,739	$21,040	37
Ambulatory health care services	259	15.2	0.73×Fewer than typical	3,914	$76,258	414
Specialty trade contractors	199	11.6	0.75×Fewer than typical	1,719	$68,267	574
Limited-service restaurants	143	8.4	1.04×About typical	3,438	$19,864	17
Religious organizations	126	7.4	1.33×More than typical	891	$26,246	—
Lessors of real estate	119	7	0.57×Fewer than typical	576	$41,891	1,104
Full-service restaurants	115	6.7	0.88×About typical	2,742	$23,395	11
Services to buildings and dwellings	110	6.4	0.95×About typical	1,811	$31,874	539
Offices of other health practitioners	87	5.1	0.84×About typical	651	$51,988	237
Construction of buildings	85	5	0.66×Fewer than typical	383	$64,809	256
Automotive repair and maintenance	84	4.9	0.98×About typical	822	$85,925	86
Building equipment contractors	81	4.7	0.79×Fewer than typical	962	$71,830	90

Rank places for an industry Open McLean County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 170,931 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: Colfax is mostly in McLean County.

See federal money in McLean 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.

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

House

Senate

County

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

McLean County82100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Bloomington, IL90

Other cities and towns in McLean 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/1715495

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends