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Grant Park, Illinois

Grant Park is a small town of about 1,300 people in Kankakee County, Illinois. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.8 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 41 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,271
down 1.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$215,800
Kankakee County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$78,385
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kankakee area
96.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
15 miles
Kankakee, IL
To Chicago
41 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 3.6% below the U.S. average in the Kankakee metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.8 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 Grant Park 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 town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byPresence St. Marys Hospital in Kankakee, about 15 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityChicago is about 41 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 Grant Park 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.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$215,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Kankakee County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,177 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$78,385U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
70%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,711 a yearIllinois: $5,298
Homes built before 1940
24%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
96.4U.S. average = 100 (the Kankakee 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 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Kankakee metro area, not Grant Park 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
1,2712020: 1,285
Median age
34.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
40%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
12%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%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
Schools, health care and social services (16%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
9%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
29 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Presence St. Marys Hospital, Kankakee, IL, about 15 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 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

2 public schools in Grant Park, run by Grant Park CUSD 6.

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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
73%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

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

Weather

January average low
15°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
16 a year
Nights at or below freezing
136 a year
Rain and melted snow
39 inches a year
Snow
24 inches a year
Elevation
698 feet

Weather stations: Lowell (11 miles away) and Momence 5ENE (5 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Presence St. Marys Hospital, Tinley Park, Chicago.

Kankakee County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Indiana Dunes National Park21 miles
  • Pullman National Historical Park31 miles
  • Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument40 miles

Read about Grant Park's history on Wikipedia.

Know Grant Park?

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

  • Sun River Terrace, IL481 people, 10 miles
  • Eagle Lake, IL (unincorporated)131 people, 10 miles
  • Schneider, IN261 people, 10 miles
  • Sumava Resorts, IN (unincorporated)143 people, 12 miles
  • Hopkins Park, IL645 people, 12 miles
  • Lake Village, IN (unincorporated)705 people, 13 miles
  • Lake Dalecarlia, IN (unincorporated)1,169 people, 14 miles
  • Aroma Park, IL647 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.