Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Illinois

Ford Heights, Illinois

Ford Heights is a suburb of about 1,800 people in Cook County, Illinois, in the Chicago area. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Chicago, is about 23 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Chicago

Population
1,751
down 3.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$66,300
Cook County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$36,053
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Chicago area
103.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
3 miles
Dyer, IN
To Chicago
23 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 3.6% above the U.S. average in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Ford Heights itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Bloom Trail High School, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byFranciscan Health Dyer in Dyer, about 3 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityChicago is about 23 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Ford Heights meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Ford Heights runs into the built-up area around Chicago (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$66,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Cook County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,056 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$36,053U.S.: $80,734
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
103.6U.S. average = 100 (the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area, not Ford Heights alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,7512020: 1,807
Median age
52.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
24%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
14%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
10%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Government (15%)
Work from home
0%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Franciscan Health Dyer, Dyer, IN, about 3 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Ford Heights, run by Ford Heights SD 169 and Ccsd 168. The nearest public high school is Bloom Trail High School, about 2 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Illinois's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
15°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
16 a year
Nights at or below freezing
126 a year
Rain and melted snow
42.1 inches a year
Snow
28 inches a year
Elevation
631 feet

Weather station: Park Forest (5 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Franciscan Health Dyer, Hammond, Chicago.

Cook County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Indiana Dunes National Park6 miles
  • Pullman National Historical Park12 miles
  • Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument21 miles

Read about Ford Heights's history on Wikipedia.

Know Ford Heights?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Plum Valley, IL (unincorporated)520 people, 4 miles
  • Willowbrook, IL (unincorporated)1,913 people, 5 miles
  • Eagle Lake, IL (unincorporated)131 people, 10 miles
  • Arbury Hills, IL (unincorporated)1,519 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.