Scores by category

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

Safety88#1,870/15,637
Economy39#9,595/15,631
Housing83#2,609/14,977
Health42#9,046/15,609
Healthcare16#13,178/15,650
Environment22#12,123/15,453
Education58#6,592/15,649
Infrastructure31#10,747/15,650
Community72#4,317/15,651
Leisure & amenities21#12,342/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Illinois 11.7 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJasper County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Illinois 10.5 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJasper County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.5×
98/100Illinois 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Illinois 6.2 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJasper County value
Voter turnout · high77.7%
93/100Illinois 62.9%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionJasper County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Illinois 6.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationJasper County value

Weaknesses

Grocery stores · low0.0 /10k
0/100Illinois 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsJasper County value
Job growth · low-5.9%
1/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataJasper County value
Primary care physicians · low11 /100k
1/100Illinois 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJasper County value
Dentists · low11 /100k
1/100Illinois 86 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJasper County value
Distance to an emergency room · high19.2 mi
3/100Illinois 4.0 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesJasper County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Illinois 4.8 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyJasper County value

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
36.2% (2015-2019) → 10.8% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
51.8% (2015-2019) → 27.9% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedImproving
1.0 /1k (2021) → 2.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+103%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
74.7% (2015-2019) → 88.5% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$36,835 (2015-2019) → $61,761 (2020-2024)
+68%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateImproving
24.1% (2015-2019) → 11.1% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Newton, Illinois improved on 5 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 6 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.

Improved5

Poverty−13 points24.1% → 11.1%
Household income+68%$36,835 → $61,761
Rent burden−24 points51.8% → 27.9%
Price / income−0.4×2.0× → 1.5×
Broadband+14 points74.7% → 88.5%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Newton, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.0 min2015-2019	20.9 min2020-2024	−2.1 min	Within the margin of error	71%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.0%2015-2019	20.2%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Broadband subscriptions	74.7%2015-2019	88.5%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	76%
High school diploma or higher	88.1%2015-2019	85.7%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	1.5×2020-2024	−0.4×	Improved	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4422015-2019	0.3982020-2024	−0.043	Within the margin of error	81%
Median household income	$36,8352015-2019	$61,7612020-2024	+68%	Improved	94%
Poverty rate	24.1%2015-2019	11.1%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	96%
Rent as share of income	30.7%2015-2019	26.1%2020-2024	−4.6 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Rent-burdened households	51.8%2015-2019	27.9%2020-2024	−24 points	Improved	96%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.2%2015-2019	12.8%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	39%

“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 Newton, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Newton, 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, Newton, Illinois itself moved +18.2 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

2,932 residents (±329)

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: 70–79 men (−3.3 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

2,932 residents (±329)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

White97%2,841
Black0.2%†5
Hispanic or Latino0.8%†24

Education

2,144 residents (±261)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

No high school diploma14%†307
High school or GED38%816
Some college19%406

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

1,298 households (±170)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k17%†220
$25k–50k19%†245
$50k–75k28%†360
$75k–100k13%†165
$100k–150k13%†164
$150k–200k9.4%†122
$200k or more1.7%†22

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−19.9 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

1,298 households (±170)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Own77%1,005
Rent23%†293

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+19.3 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 B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

293 households (±115)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $75042%†122
$750–1,00034%†100
$1,000–1,50024%†71

Home values

1,005 homes (±147)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $150k72%723
$150k–250k26%†266
$250k–400k1.2%†12

Age of homes

1,438 homes (±178)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

2010 or later1.7%†25
2000–20094.6%†66
1980–199929%†416

Size of homes

1,438 homes (±178)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom11%†158
2 bedrooms39%568

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

1,460 workers (±259)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone80%1,175
Carpool8.0%†117
Public transit2.3%†34
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home8.7%†127
Other0.5%†7

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Walk (−4.6 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 B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,333 workers (±231)

Newton, Illinois
Illinois share

Under 15 min35%†470
15–29 min24%†317
30–44 min32%†432

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

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 Jasper County, the county holding most of Newton's residents.

Jasper County has 226 employer establishments, 247 for every 10,000 residents (0.99× the US rate of 248; 0.97× Illinois's), with 1,494 paid employees at an average annual pay of $56,523. The Census Bureau also counts 789 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 226; 789 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 247; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 1,494
Average annual pay: $56,523; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	22	24	4.76×More than typical	68	$58,397	25
Specialty trade contractors	20	21.9	1.41×More than typical	131	$100,313	80
Religious organizations	13	14.2	2.56×More than typical	23	$19,000	—
Restaurants and other eating places	13	14.2	0.77×Fewer than typical	138	$14,949	3
Ambulatory health care services	12	13.1	0.63×Fewer than typical	68	$44,338	20
Automotive repair and maintenance	8	8.7	1.74×Too few to compare	23	$58,435	10
Banks and credit unions	6	6.6	2.03×Too few to compare	80	$57,400	—
Building finishing contractors	6	6.6	1.73×Too few to compare	11	$41,455	25
Full-service restaurants	6	6.6	0.85×Too few to compare	59	$16,695	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	6	6.6	1.49×Too few to compare	27	$76,926	11
Limited-service restaurants	6	6.6	0.82×Too few to compare	70	$14,429	—
Offices of other health practitioners	6	6.6	1.08×Too few to compare	24	$34,917	13

Rank places for an industry Open Jasper County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 9,148 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 Newton, 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

-10.3FY2017

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

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

See federal money in Jasper 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.

Newton, 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.

Jasper County61100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Jasper 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/1752844