City · Washington County, Illinois

Nashville, Illinois

Nashville is a city in Washington County, Illinois. It has 2,940 residents. Nashville, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 58 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,538 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #253 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), time spent in the emergency room (low) and reading scores (high). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), new business applications (low) and traffic deaths (high).

58Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,538 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #253 of 697 in IL
Population: 2,940 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 946.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 1751700

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.

Safety70#4,718/15,637
Economy47#8,295/15,631
Housing89#1,613/14,977
Health50#7,814/15,609
Healthcare39#9,504/15,650
Environment29#10,953/15,453
Education65#5,498/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,915/15,650
Community75#3,850/15,651
Leisure & amenities45#8,535/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Social associations · high23.6 /10k
99/100Illinois 9.8 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWashington County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low84 min
99/100Illinois 170 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWashington County value
Reading scores · high3.52
98/100Illinois 2.97United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWashington County value
Rent as share of income · low22.4%
98/100Illinois 29.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Rent-burdened households · low17.7%
98/100Illinois 47.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Grocery stores · high3.0 /10k
94/100Illinois 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWashington County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.7 /10k
2/100Illinois 4.8 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWashington County value
New business applications · low7.1 /1k
2/100Illinois 14.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauWashington County value
Traffic deaths · high36.7 /100k
4/100Illinois 9.8 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataWashington County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Illinois 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWashington County value
Job growth · low-3.3%
6/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataWashington County value
Primary care physicians · low22 /100k
6/100Illinois 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWashington County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.1% (2015-2019) → 91.5% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
28.4% (2015-2019) → 17.7% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
17.3 min (2015-2019) → 24.3 min (2020-2024)
+40%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
3.0% (2015-2019) → 7.2% (2020-2024)
+4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
24.4% (2015-2019) → 21.2% (2020-2024)
−3.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 2.5× (2020-2024)
+16%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Nashville, Illinois improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 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% → 91.5%

Declined1

Uninsured+4.2 points3.0% → 7.2%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Nashville, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.3 min2015-2019	24.3 min2020-2024	+7.0 min	Within the margin of error	5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.4%2015-2019	21.2%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Broadband subscriptions	79.1%2015-2019	91.5%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	70%
Effective property tax rate	2.21%2015-2019	1.95%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	69%
High school diploma or higher	93.3%2015-2019	95.4%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	58%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3782015-2019	0.3852020-2024	+0.007	Within the margin of error	45%
Median household income	$60,2842015-2019	$63,1702020-2024	+4.8%	Within the margin of error	11%
Poverty rate	7.8%2015-2019	6.8%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Rent as share of income	23.8%2015-2019	22.4%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Rent-burdened households	28.4%2015-2019	17.7%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Unemployment rate	3.8%2015-2019	4.4%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.0%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Declined	13%

“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 Nashville, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Nashville, 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, Nashville, 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

2,940 residents (±130)

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

1,311 households (±101)

Nashville, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k8.2%†108
$25k–50k26%†341
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,311 households (±101)

Nashville, Illinois
Illinois share

Own74%974
Rent26%†337

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,477 workers (±158)

Nashville, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone88%1,294
Carpool3.7%†55
Public transit0.0%0

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 Washington County, the county holding most of Nashville's residents.

Washington County has 364 employer establishments, 268 for every 10,000 residents (1.08× the US rate of 248; 1.05× Illinois's), with 6,274 paid employees at an average annual pay of $56,692. The Census Bureau also counts 907 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 364; 907 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 268; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 6,274
Average annual pay: $56,692; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	25	18.4	3.32×More than typical	135	$19,526	—
Specialty trade contractors	23	16.9	1.09×About typical	228	$82,272	69
Restaurants and other eating places	15	11.1	0.60×Fewer than typical	209	$19,756	—
Truck transportation	15	11.1	2.19×More than typical	135	$60,022	26
Ambulatory health care services	13	9.6	0.46×Fewer than typical	53	$51,547	23
Banks and credit unions	13	9.6	2.96×More than typical	87	$53,092	5
Services to buildings and dwellings	13	9.6	1.42×More than typical	49	$46,612	71
Automotive repair and maintenance	12	8.8	1.76×More than typical	37	$25,622	17
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	12	8.8	7.29×More than typical	118	$21,746	—
Gasoline stations	11	8.1	2.50×More than typical	112	$21,929	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	11	8.1	1.85×More than typical	46	$102,022	31
Construction of buildings	10	7.4	0.97×About typical	50	$52,340	27

Rank places for an industry Open Washington County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,574 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 $735 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Nashville, Illinois: $0.25 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $735; −52% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.25; 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

Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services$735100%

Top recipients

GEVA LOGISTICS INC.$42057%
ON-DEMAND SERVICES LLC$31543%

Spending by fiscal year

150.7FY2017
75.6FY2018
6.3FY2019
171.3FY2020
332.2FY2021
0FY2022
64.7FY2023
171.3FY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$735100%

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

Nashville, Illinois's figures are part of those of Washington County, IL ($284.4K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.3% of that total.

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

See federal money in Washington 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.

Nashville, Illinois is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike BostR-IL-12 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.6%

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.

Washington County77100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Washington 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/1751700

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends