City · Piatt County, Illinois

Monticello, Illinois

Monticello is a city in Piatt County, Illinois, part of the Champaign-Urbana, IL metro area. It has 6,304 residents. Monticello, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 78 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,472 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #99 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on public libraries (high), reading scores (high) and food environment index (high). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), distance to an airport (high) and dentists (low).

78High

Quality-of-life score: #3,472 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #99 of 697 in IL
Population: 6,304 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 1,563.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 1750244

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety79#3,259/15,637
Economy77#3,552/15,631
Housing86#2,124/14,977
Health74#4,133/15,609
Healthcare53#7,428/15,650
Environment12#13,646/15,453
Education87#2,058/15,649
Infrastructure53#7,336/15,650
Community85#2,322/15,651
Leisure & amenities51#7,607/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Public libraries · high4.2 /10k
98/100Illinois 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesPiatt County value
Reading scores · high3.43
96/100Illinois 2.97United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePiatt County value
Food environment index · high9.4
96/100Illinois 8.4United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePiatt County value
Unemployment rate · low0.5%
95/100Illinois 4.6%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low1.5%
94/100Illinois 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Illinois 6.2 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataPiatt County value

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Illinois 4.8 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyPiatt County value
Distance to an airport · high121 mi
5/100Illinois 35 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauPiatt County value
Dentists · low24 /100k
7/100Illinois 86 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePiatt County value
New business applications · low8.2 /1k
8/100Illinois 14.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauPiatt County value
Mental health care shortage · high18.0
11/100Illinois 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPiatt County value
Average weekly wage · low$965
13/100Illinois $1,539United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPiatt County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,695 (2015-2019) → 6,304 (2020-2024)
+11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.7% (2015-2019) → 35.3% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.4% (2015-2019) → 93.3% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedImproving
2.1 /1k (2021) → 3.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+51%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeImproving
29.1% (2015-2019) → 21.9% (2020-2024)
−7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$75,274 (2015-2019) → $99,449 (2020-2024)
+32%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, Monticello, Illinois improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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+11 points82.4% → 93.3%
Household income+32%$75,274 → $99,449

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Monticello, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.8 min2015-2019	23.2 min2020-2024	+2.4 min	Within the margin of error	24%
Bachelor's degree or higher	38.1%2015-2019	40.7%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Broadband subscriptions	82.4%2015-2019	93.3%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	64%
Effective property tax rate	1.75%2015-2019	1.71%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	22%
High school diploma or higher	95.8%2015-2019	95.7%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	81%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3422015-2019	0.3752020-2024	+0.034	Within the margin of error	25%
Median household income	$75,2742015-2019	$99,4492020-2024	+32%	Improved	60%
Poverty rate	5.8%2015-2019	5.7%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Rent as share of income	29.1%2015-2019	21.9%2020-2024	−7.2 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Rent-burdened households	47.7%2015-2019	35.3%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	86%

“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 Monticello, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Monticello, 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, Monticello, Illinois itself moved +5.7 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

6,304 residents (±218)

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

2,675 households (±156)

Monticello, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k10%†277
$25k–50k8.7%†233
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,675 households (±156)

Monticello, Illinois
Illinois share

Own83%2,212
Rent17%†463

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+7.1 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

3,454 workers (±287)

Monticello, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone91%3,130
Carpool2.3%†80
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 Champaign-Urbana, 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 Piatt County, the county holding most of Monticello's residents.

Piatt County has 339 employer establishments, 203 for every 10,000 residents (0.82× the US rate of 248; 0.79× Illinois's), with 2,535 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,006. The Census Bureau also counts 1,189 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 339; 1,189 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 203; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 2,535
Average annual pay: $47,006; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	31	18.5	1.20×About typical	102	$65,951	95
Religious organizations	24	14.3	2.59×More than typical	87	$17,391	—
Construction of buildings	17	10.2	1.34×More than typical	69	$58,754	35
Restaurants and other eating places	17	10.2	0.55×Fewer than typical	168	$19,577	3
Ambulatory health care services	16	9.6	0.46×Fewer than typical	82	$54,793	33
Truck transportation	15	9	1.77×More than typical	48	$49,208	38
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	13	7.8	2.46×More than typical	29	$84,897	13
Services to buildings and dwellings	13	7.8	1.15×About typical	20	$43,900	81
Landscaping services	12	7.2	2.05×More than typical	18	$43,278	31
Full-service restaurants	10	6	0.78×Fewer than typical	85	$19,682	—
Banks and credit unions	9	5.4	1.66×Too few to compare	115	$62,965	4
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	5.4	1.22×Too few to compare	23	$43,304	30

Rank places for an industry Open Piatt County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,736 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 $1,539 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Monticello, Illinois: $0.24 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1,539
Per resident: $0.24; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 100%; 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

Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$1,539100%

Top recipients

CJ OPTICAL INC.$1,539100%

Spending by fiscal year

1.1FY2019
1.5KFY2026

What was bought

Health & medical$1,539100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Offices of other health practitioners · 6213$1,539100%

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

Monticello, Illinois's figures are part of those of Piatt County, IL ($43.1K in FY2026), never added to them: 3.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Piatt 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.

Monticello, 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.

Piatt County86100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Champaign-Urbana, IL72

Other cities and towns in Piatt 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/1750244

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends