Scores by category

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

Safety84#2,514/15,637
Economy42#9,025/15,631
Housing89#1,704/14,977
Health54#7,123/15,609
Healthcare37#9,861/15,650
Environment15#13,158/15,453
Education38#9,722/15,649
Infrastructure50#7,873/15,650
Community46#8,472/15,651
Leisure & amenities29#11,067/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Rent as share of income · low23.1%
97/100Illinois 29.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drug overdose deaths · low8.0 /100k
89/100Illinois 14.2 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWill County value
Injury deaths · low59 /100k
89/100Illinois 80 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWill County value
Depression · low19.0%
87/100Illinois 20.3%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Distance to an Amtrak station · low7 mi
86/100Illinois 13 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauWill County value
Job growth · high1.7%
86/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataWill County value

Weaknesses

Adult obesity · high45.9%
3/100Illinois 39.0%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Preventable hospital stays · high3,941 /100k
10/100Illinois 3,343 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWill County value
Physical inactivity · high33.9%
11/100Illinois 23.6%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Effective property tax rate · high1.82%
11/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Poor or fair health · high27.2%
11/100Illinois 18.9%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Food insecurity · high27.2%
12/100Illinois 16.5%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
59.3% (2015-2019) → 21.6% (2020-2024)
−38 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.1% (2015-2019) → 94.0% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$47,031 (2015-2019) → $70,795 (2020-2024)
+51%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
32.0% (2015-2019) → 23.1% (2020-2024)
−8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
11.2% (2015-2019) → 17.5% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateImproving
18.8% (2015-2019) → 12.5% (2020-2024)
−6.3 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, Fairmont, Illinois improved on 2 of 12 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.

Improved2

Broadband+24 points70.1% → 94.0%
Rent / income−8.9 points32.0% → 23.1%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Fairmont, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.5 min2015-2019	23.3 min2020-2024	−7.2 min	Within the margin of error	96%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.2%2015-2019	17.5%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Broadband subscriptions	70.1%2015-2019	94.0%2020-2024	+24 points	Improved	94%
Child poverty rate	18.8%2015-2019	12.5%2020-2024	−6.3 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Effective property tax rate	2.07%2015-2019	1.82%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	68%
High school diploma or higher	83.8%2015-2019	80.4%2020-2024	−3.4 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	59%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4022015-2019	0.3592020-2024	−0.043	Within the margin of error	81%
Median household income	$47,0312015-2019	$70,7952020-2024	+51%	Within the margin of error	85%
Poverty rate	17.3%2015-2019	15.6%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	32.0%2015-2019	23.1%2020-2024	−8.9 points	Improved	92%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.1%2015-2019	17.5%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Within the margin of error	9%

“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 Fairmont, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fairmont, 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, Fairmont, Illinois itself moved +20.9 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

2,617 residents (±354)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 50–59 men (−3.8 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,617 residents (±354)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

White23%599
Black23%598
Hispanic or Latino52%1,349

Education

1,625 residents (±195)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

No high school diploma20%†319
High school or GED32%520
Some college24%†396

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

939 households (±123)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k20%†190
$25k–50k16%†147
$50k–75k15%†140
$75k–100k25%†231
$100k–150k19%†179
$150k–200k5.5%†52
$200k or more0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $25k–50k (−14.6 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

939 households (±123)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Own70%656
Rent30%†283

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

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

268 households (±101)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $75010%†28
$750–1,0006.0%†16
$1,000–1,50039%†104

Home values

656 homes (±119)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $150k37%†243
$150k–250k47%306
$250k–400k16%†107

Age of homes

1,065 homes (±124)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

2010 or later4.1%†44
2000–20093.4%†36
1980–19999.9%†105

Size of homes

1,065 homes (±124)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Studio3.4%†36
1 bedroom5.4%†57
2 bedrooms30%†316

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,193 workers (±198)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone76%909
Carpool19%†223
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.7%†8
Bike0.1%†1
Work from home3.7%†44
Other0.7%†8

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

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,149 workers (±204)

Fairmont, Illinois
Illinois share

Under 15 min15%†169
15–29 min61%706
30–44 min18%†207

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

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 Will County, the county holding most of Fairmont's residents.

Will County has 17,085 employer establishments, 243 for every 10,000 residents (0.98× the US rate of 248; 0.95× Illinois's), with 267,545 paid employees at an average annual pay of $55,858. The Census Bureau also counts 64,479 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 17,085; 64,479 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 243; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 267,545
Average annual pay: $55,858; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	1,669	23.7	1.14×About typical	16,017	$68,827	2,722
Truck transportation	1,429	20.3	4.01×More than typical	9,309	$60,505	5,200
Specialty trade contractors	1,328	18.9	1.22×About typical	12,643	$90,890	3,291
Restaurants and other eating places	1,129	16	0.87×About typical	22,596	$21,103	289
Offices of other health practitioners	697	9.9	1.63×More than typical	4,967	$61,057	1,256
Services to buildings and dwellings	592	8.4	1.25×About typical	5,613	$57,177	2,523
Limited-service restaurants	567	8.1	1.00×About typical	11,758	$19,077	119
Lessors of real estate	520	7.4	0.60×Fewer than typical	1,444	$54,774	5,696
Construction of buildings	482	6.8	0.91×About typical	1,815	$70,187	1,663
Automotive repair and maintenance	478	6.8	1.35×More than typical	2,828	$50,044	910
Building equipment contractors	472	6.7	1.11×About typical	4,952	$94,102	722
Offices of physicians	436	6.2	0.96×About typical	3,635	$115,660	374

Rank places for an industry Open Will County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 703,872 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 $184.5K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Fairmont, Illinois: $70.50 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $184.5K; −55% vs FY2025
Per resident: $70.50; US $1,994
Sole-source: 27%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.2%; 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 the Army$169.1K92%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$9,8585.3%
Defense Logistics Agency$5,4382.9%
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Acquisition and Property Management Division$1,0350.6%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

395.2KFY2017
280.5KFY2018
302.8KFY2019
357.9KFY2020
83.4KFY2021
40.2KFY2022
175.8KFY2023
119.8K

Top industries (NAICS)

Electric power generation, transmission and distribution · 2211$84.6K46%
Hardware manufacturing · 3325$31.1K17%
Deep sea, coastal, and Great Lakes water transportation · 4831$22.9K12%
Facilities support services · 5612$13.1K7.1%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$11K5.9%
Ship and boat building · 3366$5,867

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

Fairmont, Illinois's figures are part of those of Will County, IL ($154.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Will 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.

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

House

County

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

Will County77100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN66

Other cities and towns in Will 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
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/1724920

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends