The 10 Worst Small Towns In Illinois For 2023


We used Saturday Night Science to determine the worst small towns in Illinois.

By: Nick Johnson | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: October 14, 2023

Most Americans have never been to small town Illinois. However, as the Illinoisan who live there know, small town Illinois is an awesome place to call home.

But is it all roses? Definitely not. Just like any other state, Illinois has its trouble spots. This article aims to determine, using Saturday Night Science, the absolute worst small towns to live in the Prairie State. Don’t freak out, we will use data to show which places have high crime, poverty, and unemployment.

After analyzing more than 371 of Illinois’s smallest cities, we came up with this list as the 10 worst small towns in Illinois where you’d never want to live:

These are the worst small towns in Illinois for 2023:

  1. Cairo
  2. Wamac
  3. Venice
  4. Madison
  5. Alorton
  6. Centreville
  7. Ford Heights
  8. Washington Park
  9. Ina
  10. Sandoval

So what is the worst small town to call home in Illinois for 2023? According to the most recent census data, Cairo is the worst small town to live in Illinois.

While many of these small towns have seen better days, they have wonderful communities and people. This report in no way means to knock the folks that call towns like Cairo home. Everyone

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers, or scroll to the bottom to see how your town ranked.

And if you already know about the small towns, check out the best places to live in Illinois or the worst places to live in Illinois.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 10 Worst Small Towns In Illinois For 2023

1. Cairo

Cairo, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Jonathunder | GFDL 1.2
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,694
Median Home Value: $30,400 (2nd worst)
Unemployment Rate: 17.4% (7th worst)

2. Wamac

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,090
Median Home Value: $23,100 (worst)
Unemployment Rate: 13.2% (18th worst)

3. Venice

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,926
Median Home Value: $46,000 (7th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 18.3% (4th worst)

4. Madison

Madison, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,752
Median Home Value: $50,000 (14th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 9.4% (38th worst)

5. Alorton

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 1,864
Median Home Value: $44,600 (5th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 23.6% (worst)

6. Centreville

Centreville, IL

Source: Flickr User TomGazpacho | CC BY-ND 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 4,346
Median Home Value: $53,900 (17th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 19.3% (2nd worst)

7. Ford Heights

Ford Heights, IL

Source: Wikipedia User User:Aneekr | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,718
Median Home Value: $48,300 (11th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 14.8% (11th worst)

8. Washington Park

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,732
Median Home Value: $31,000 (3rd worst)
Unemployment Rate: 17.6% (6th worst)

9. Ina

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,015
Median Home Value: $71,500 (44th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 9.9% (33rd worst)

10. Sandoval

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,087
Median Home Value: $48,400 (12th worst)
Unemployment Rate: 12.2% (2worst)

Methodology: How do you decide if a small place in Illinois is lousy or not?

To rank the worst small towns to live in Illinois, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place. Assuming that people like low crime, solid education, things to do, and a stable economy isn’t a stretch.

We then analyzed the criteria using Saturday Night Science, the thinking you’d use at a bar. It seems like even your crazy Uncle would agree that a town with high crime is worse than a town with low crime; all else the same.

Using FBI crime data and the Census’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (The lower, the worse)
  • Highest Unemployment Rates
  • Low housing costs (meaning there’s no demand)
  • Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
  • Education (Number of high school dropouts)
  • High Crime

We looked at cities with populations between 1,000 and 5,000 people, of which there were many – 371 to be exact.

We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets them from the cities. Dropout numbers are based on the adult population, not just the current graduation rates of teenagers.

We base all our research on facts, which is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the worst small places to live in Illinois.

There You Have It – The Worst Small Towns In Illinois

If you’re analyzing teeny places in the Prairie State with the worst economic situations, where there’s high crime and there’s not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best small towns to live in Illinois, according to science:

  1. Kenilworth (Pop. 2,423)
  2. Leland Grove (Pop. 1,336)
  3. Prestbury (Pop. 2,051)

For more Illinois reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Small Towns In Illinois

Rank Town Population Unemployment Rate Home Value
1 Cairo 1,694 17.4% $30,400
2 Wamac 1,090 13.2% $23,100
3 Venice 1,926 18.3% $46,000
4 Madison 2,752 9.4% $50,000
5 Alorton 1,864 23.6% $44,600
6 Centreville 4,346 19.3% $53,900
7 Ford Heights 1,718 14.8% $48,300
8 Washington Park 2,732 17.6% $31,000
9 Ina 2,015 9.9% $71,500
10 Sandoval 1,087 12.2% $48,400
11 Fairmont City 2,176 2.6% $62,800
12 Sheldon 1,276 18.0% $67,600
13 Grayville 1,554 5.1% $64,600
14 Cambria 1,061 11.6% $75,000
15 Martinsville 1,314 6.5% $62,300
16 Vienna 1,729 5.7% $82,900
17 Sumner 2,851 10.4% $50,400
18 Onarga 1,225 9.1% $83,500
19 Louisville 1,163 5.7% $66,700
20 Marissa 1,288 9.8% $77,000
21 Phoenix 1,314 13.6% $64,500
22 Carbon Cliff 1,975 8.0% $105,000
23 Robbins 4,850 14.3% $85,700
24 Eldorado 3,836 6.2% $45,200
25 South Roxana 2,121 8.3% $80,400
26 Hodgkins 1,856 4.9% $33,000
27 Savanna 3,102 6.8% $67,300
28 Hartford 1,846 4.7% $65,500
29 Albion 2,122 13.6% $83,200
30 Tilton 2,717 3.6% $57,600
31 Dupo 4,001 8.7% $87,500
32 Bridgeport 1,859 8.9% $49,600
33 Griggsville 1,328 4.8% $78,300
34 Oquawka 1,400 4.9% $74,400
35 Zeigler 1,563 8.8% $51,000
36 Dixmoor 3,036 5.3% $69,500
37 Chatsworth 1,321 5.4% $84,700
38 De Pue 1,680 4.5% $55,300
39 Percy 1,056 2.7% $92,700
40 Lawrenceville 4,304 6.2% $77,000
41 St. Elmo 1,561 6.6% $76,200
42 Lewistown 1,812 15.3% $76,700
43 Christopher 2,459 5.1% $62,500
44 Benld 1,655 6.3% $74,200
45 Preston Heights 2,633 9.5% $118,500
46 Norris City 1,327 9.4% $58,300
47 Abingdon 3,586 10.4% $76,800
48 Oblong 1,405 8.8% $66,100
49 Cobden 1,132 3.8% $97,100
50 Anna 4,262 8.9% $88,000
51 Havana 3,232 7.1% $77,200
52 Fairfield 4,982 3.5% $80,200
53 Carrier Mills 1,891 8.2% $60,700
54 Toulon 1,424 3.2% $82,300
55 Rockdale 2,476 8.7% $140,200
56 De Soto 1,631 5.8% $82,500
57 Wenona 1,116 4.6% $88,800
58 Flora 4,798 6.4% $80,200
59 Caseyville 4,185 4.1% $86,000
60 South Chicago Heights 4,022 9.1% $106,800
61 La Harpe 1,300 5.3% $72,300
62 Central City 1,125 5.1% $47,500
63 Minonk 2,012 8.4% $110,300
64 Roxana 1,484 4.5% $84,000
65 Shawneetown 1,246 6.7% $72,400
66 Channel Lake 1,742 6.8% $166,900
67 Roodhouse 1,553 9.4% $61,900
68 Watseka 4,623 5.6% $81,500
69 Milford 1,297 7.0% $62,100
70 Atkinson 1,255 10.3% $96,900
71 Grandview 1,351 9.8% $66,300
72 Amboy 2,450 5.7% $89,600
73 Riverton 3,525 4.9% $111,400
74 Gibson City 3,593 6.0% $105,500
75 Barry 1,549 4.7% $77,700
76 Girard 1,775 5.8% $78,800
77 Gillespie 2,945 5.4% $89,200
78 Burnham 4,085 10.0% $123,900
79 Galatia 1,039 6.9% $68,300
80 Newton 2,979 3.4% $81,700
81 Greenfield 1,295 3.1% $82,500
82 Milledgeville 1,103 6.0% $79,200
83 Galva 2,527 2.1% $71,700
84 Polo 2,462 4.5% $101,400
85 Colchester 1,314 4.9% $73,900
86 Creve Coeur 4,947 3.8% $76,600
87 Mount Morris 3,044 4.3% $109,500
88 Ingalls Park 3,166 14.9% $108,100
89 Lovington 1,099 5.4% $75,300
90 Thornton 2,299 7.0% $111,400
91 Sheridan 2,744 6.5% $156,900
92 Mcleansboro 2,749 1.5% $76,200
93 Earlville 1,932 8.3% $108,000
94 Warsaw 1,631 11.7% $82,200
95 East Hazel Crest 1,326 13.3% $116,200
96 Pittsfield 4,123 9.1% $102,600
97 Fairmont 2,649 7.9% $132,500
98 Southern View 1,642 10.0% $89,100
99 Rushville 2,489 7.1% $76,500
100 Royalton 1,102 0.0% $46,100
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

 Worst

9 thoughts on “The 10 Worst Small Towns In Illinois For 2023”

  1. See how many empty homes you can find in Grand Tower today(good luck- extremely few); it is a very tight-knit community where we go above and beyond to help our neighbors. It is beautiful, the people are great, and while we may not be wealthy, we have it a dozen times better than anyone living in a bigger town.

    Reply

  2. Bud Tappan, your opinion is bs. You don’t know anything about what your talking about. Sure every town has their drunks , unemployed, and dropouts. But you took this to the next level with your disrespect. I know personally 6 of these towns on your list of 10 and they are great places and I was born and raised in one further down on your list. I’m guessing that you either live in Chicago or some other miserable city. These towns you call horrible places, are really quiet farm towns, that provide crops on a major scale for this state and country. We don’t get large grants every year or every decade. So yeah there are no jobs. But Chicago sure does they get all the handouts.
    Take your opinion and shove it up your ass city bitch.

    Reply

  3. I bet you guys think everything south of Chicago is crap because it’s not glamorous. Everyone in Illinois knows Chicago is a FAR different place from downstate, or anywhere outside of Cook County for that matter. I live in Chicagoland and I’d hazard a guess Chicago has more drug dealers, prostitutes, and criminals than any one of these communities. Maybe if you knew the people of the communities you write arbitrarily about you’d think about what you write.

    Oh, and “opinions based on data”? That’s a load of steaming bull.

    Reply

  4. I am proud of the little town of Gorham, from which I graduated from High School. I have shown many people where I came from, on google maps. A lot of people I have had the privilege of meeting over the years told me how lucky I was to grow up in a farming community. The area landscape is one of the most beautiful I have seen. Neighbors were not close by but they were awesome people, and they treated my Grandparents with respect and love. I have lived within City limits, but I would take the Country Road any day.

    Reply

  5. I don’t live in any of these towns/villages/burgs, but have been to most of them…and EVERYONE of them would be 10 times better to live in than ANYWHERE in Crook, oops, Cook county!!!!

    Reply

  6. I personally consider low population density to be a major positive. This usually means larger lots and fewer people around! Most of these are actually rather nice places to live, and those low property values mean a normal person can actually own a nice home and still afford to eat. I myself live in a slightly larger small town and love it. By the way, there is no such place as Old Shawne. I assume you mean Old Shawneetown, one of the oldest communities in the state which has the unfortunate habit of flooding occasionally, which is why they established a new Shawneetown a couple of miles west on higher ground.

    Reply

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