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Towns / Illinois

Marengo, Illinois

Marengo is a small town of about 7,700 people in McHenry County, Illinois. It has grown about 2% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.1 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 55 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
7,737
up 2.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$229,900
McHenry County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$73,523
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Chicago area
103.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Harvard, IL
To Chicago
55 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 3.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood15 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMercy Harvard Hospital in Harvard, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityChicago is about 55 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 Marengo 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
$229,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%McHenry County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,176 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$73,523U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
63%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$5,234 a yearIllinois: $5,298
Homes built before 1940
22%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%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 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area, not Marengo 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
7,7372020: 7,553
Median age
31.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
15%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

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 (21%); retail (16%); manufacturing (15%)
Unemployment rate
10%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
30 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
16%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mercy Harvard Hospital, Harvard, IL, about 12 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Mercyhealth Hospital & Physician Clinic-Crystal la, Crystal Lake, IL, about 14 miles away. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

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

5 public schools in Marengo, run by Marengo-Union E Cons D 165 and Marengo CHSD 154.

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
96%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
13°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
15 a year
Nights at or below freezing
147 a year
Rain and melted snow
37.6 inches a year
Snow
31 inches a year
Elevation
822 feet

Weather station: Marengo (1 mile 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: Mercy Harvard Hospital, Elgin, Chicago.

McHenry 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

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site53 miles
  • Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument58 miles

Read about Marengo's history on Wikipedia.

Know Marengo?

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

  • Union, IL684 people, 3 miles
  • Garden Prairie, IL (unincorporated)403 people, 6 miles
  • Hartland, IL (unincorporated)105 people, 9 miles
  • Ridgefield, IL (unincorporated)221 people, 12 miles
  • Chemung, IL (unincorporated)239 people, 12 miles
  • Burlington, IL517 people, 13 miles
  • Lawrence, IL (unincorporated)358 people, 14 miles
  • Greenwood, IL314 people, 15 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.