City · Livingston County, Illinois

Fairbury, Illinois

Fairbury is a city in Livingston County, Illinois, part of the Pontiac, IL metro area. It has 3,713 residents. Fairbury, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 61 out of 100 (high), ranking #6,046 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #227 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on poverty rate (low), uninsured residents (under 65) (low) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on distance to an emergency room (high), new business applications (low) and gyms and fitness centers (low).

61High

Quality-of-life score: #6,046 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #227 of 697 in IL
Population: 3,713 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 2,002.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 1724764

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.

Safety63#5,727/15,637
Economy76#3,767/15,631
Housing79#3,101/14,977
Health54#7,168/15,609
Healthcare53#7,368/15,650
Environment8#14,147/15,453
Education48#8,158/15,649
Infrastructure73#4,240/15,650
Community60#6,335/15,651
Leisure & amenities51#7,656/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Poverty rate · low2.1%
96/100Illinois 11.5%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low1.5%
94/100Illinois 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Social associations · high15.9 /10k
93/100Illinois 9.8 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLivingston County value
Unemployment rate · low0.9%
92/100Illinois 4.6%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Public libraries · high2.0 /10k
91/100Illinois 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLivingston County value
Students per teacher · low11.4×
91/100Illinois 13.6×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsLivingston County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an emergency room · high25.4 mi
1/100Illinois 4.0 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesLivingston County value
New business applications · low7.3 /1k
3/100Illinois 14.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauLivingston County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Illinois 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLivingston County value
Effective property tax rate · high2.12%
6/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Mental health care shortage · high18.0
11/100Illinois 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationLivingston County value
Flu vaccinations · low34.0%
15/100Illinois 48.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLivingston County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
0.8 /1k (2021) → 9.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+1,054%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
27.8% (2015-2019) → 2.0% (2020-2024)
−26 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
12.8% (2015-2019) → 29.3% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.3% (2015-2019) → 88.5% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
12.9% (2015-2019) → 2.1% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$54,833 (2015-2019) → $70,962 (2020-2024)
+29%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, Fairbury, Illinois improved on 2 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 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.

Improved2

Bachelor's++16 points12.8% → 29.3%
Broadband+13 points75.3% → 88.5%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Fairbury, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.7 min2015-2019	15.1 min2020-2024	−1.6 min	Within the margin of error	67%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.8%2015-2019	29.3%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	98%
Broadband subscriptions	75.3%2015-2019	88.5%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	74%
Effective property tax rate	2.50%2015-2019	2.12%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	83%
High school diploma or higher	93.6%2015-2019	91.8%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	57%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3962015-2019	0.3722020-2024	−0.023	Within the margin of error	70%
Median household income	$54,8332015-2019	$70,9622020-2024	+29%	Within the margin of error	54%
Rent as share of income	23.0%2015-2019	23.5%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Rent-burdened households	37.2%2015-2019	37.1%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%

“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 Fairbury, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fairbury, 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, Fairbury, Illinois itself moved +3.9 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

3,713 residents (±110)

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

1,502 households (±123)

Fairbury, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k6.9%†103
$25k–50k24%†357
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,502 households (±123)

Fairbury, Illinois
Illinois share

Own68%1,025
Rent32%477

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,642 workers (±180)

Fairbury, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone82%1,343
Carpool5.6%†92
Public transit0.9%†15

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 Pontiac, 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 Livingston County, the county holding most of Fairbury's residents.

Livingston County has 826 employer establishments, 235 for every 10,000 residents (0.94× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Illinois's), with 10,906 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,207. The Census Bureau also counts 1,978 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 826; 1,978 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 235; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 10,906
Average annual pay: $52,207; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	59	16.8	1.08×About typical	462	$72,169	117
Restaurants and other eating places	57	16.2	0.88×About typical	719	$16,191	14
Truck transportation	47	13.3	2.64×More than typical	166	$58,922	75
Religious organizations	41	11.6	2.10×More than typical	294	$18,711	—
Full-service restaurants	31	8.8	1.15×About typical	304	$14,243	7
Ambulatory health care services	29	8.2	0.40×Fewer than typical	228	$53,697	52
Automotive repair and maintenance	26	7.4	1.47×More than typical	120	$45,700	36
Banks and credit unions	26	7.4	2.29×More than typical	305	$58,482	7
Construction of buildings	23	6.5	0.86×About typical	122	$78,197	60
Building equipment contractors	22	6.2	1.04×About typical	276	$70,163	21
Insurance agencies and brokerages	22	6.2	1.42×More than typical	78	$51,513	26
Limited-service restaurants	22	6.2	0.78×Fewer than typical	365	$18,581	6

Rank places for an industry Open Livingston County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 35,215 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Fairbury, Illinois: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

32.2FY2019
32.7FY2020
49.2FY2021
43.8FY2022
33.1FY2023

What was bought

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 Fairbury, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

Fairbury, Illinois's figures are part of those of Livingston County, IL ($20.4K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Livingston 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.

Fairbury, 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.

Livingston County65100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Pontiac, IL59

Other cities and towns in Livingston 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/1724764

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends