Plainfield, Illinois

Area Profile

46,708 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Plainfield, in Will County.

73out of 100
Area Score
Top 12% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2181st of 3,904 cities measured54
SchoolsTop 30% of 2,668 cities measured68
GrowthTop 13% of 2,973 cities measured73
Housing affordabilityTop 8% of 4,223 cities measured100
Climate3689th of 4,223 cities measured59
Physical resilienceTop 19% of 4,182 cities measured83
Access2922nd of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stabilityTop 3% of 4,226 cities measured84
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 598 units authorized over the past twelve months, 18% below the prior year.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 18% of median household income and the median home is 3.0 times it.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Plainfield in the top 19% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
46,708
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$144,000
Top 6% nationally
Density
1,803/sq mi
25.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Will County
Illinois
Metro area
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
Nearest major airport
ORD
30 mi · Chicago O'Hare Intl
Median home value
$431,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 28% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 25,226 employed residents.

56% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 92% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 94% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$9,206$144,000Top 6%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,688$54,333Top 14%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.2%Bottom 20%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute35.7 minTop 15%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher56.0%Top 8%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment25,226Bottom 32%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.2%Top 31%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 10%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force26,539Bottom 33%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation72.1%Top 13%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$73,380Top 36%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$54,720Top 39%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 8%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate4.9%Top 28%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.72.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024144k135k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $144,000 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand157,920$40,550
General and Operations Managers122,930$109,390
Home Health and Personal Care Aides108,520$38,180
Registered Nurses100,240$100,490
Cashiers99,240$35,010
Fast Food and Counter Workers97,280$34,630

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

32% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
31.6%
Top 33% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
38.5%
Top 24% in Illinois
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Plainfield North High SchoolPlainfield SD 2022,39917.6
Plainfield East High SchoolPlainfield SD 2021,82516.2
Plainfield High SchoolPlainfield SD 2021,80015.8
John F Kennedy Middle SchPlainfield SD 20291215.237%42%
Richard Ira Jones Middle SchoolPlainfield SD 20285115.537%37%
Heritage Grove Middle SchoolPlainfield SD 20284115.047%52%
Bonnie McBeth Learning CtrPlainfield SD 20275718.9
Murphy Junior High SchoolCUSD 30870014.927%47%
Grande Park Elem SchCUSD 30868718.131%40%
Wallin Oaks Elementary SchoolPlainfield SD 20267715.4
Walkers Grove Elementary SchoolPlainfield SD 20263415.834%55%
Eagle Pointe Elementary SchoolPlainfield SD 20259414.532%30%

30.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $2,119 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
102.5

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
17.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,119
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$431,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index102.5Top 47%of 3,6582023
Home price to income3.00Top 48%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate88.0%Top 25%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±42714,889Top 4%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$188$2,119Top 7%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,217$431,400Top 16%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.7%Bottom 43%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate1.7%Bottom 15%of 32,0012024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
73/ 100
Top 13% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 9% since 2020, reaching 48,881 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 12.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
598
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
12.8
Top 8% nationally
Year over year
−18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202449k45k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025740256
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+189%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHICAGO AURORA MUNI AP, 15.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index60.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation33.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index44.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing50°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
60
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave.

TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, lightning, ice storm, strong wind, landslide, hail, wildfire, drought, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
72
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
427
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offences, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Plainfield's police department reported 72 violent offences per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 427.

Will County records 2.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 6.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.6 per 100,000 residents in Will County.

Homicide
2.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
7.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
10.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offences are reported to the FBI by Plainfield’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Will County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Plainfield rather than Plainfield itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 30 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD30 mi11,245 ft
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY43 mi8,859 ft
Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-NormalBMI87 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
73
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Other cities in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ChicagoCook County2,711,22654vs Plainfield
AuroraKane County179,89864vs Plainfield
NapervilleDuPage County150,69271vs Plainfield
JolietWill County150,44559vs Plainfield
ElginKane County114,93457vs Plainfield
WaukeganLake County89,07658vs Plainfield
CiceroCook County82,79748vs Plainfield
SchaumburgCook County76,86861vs Plainfield
HammondLake County76,76858vs Plainfield
EvanstonCook County76,34063vs Plainfield
Arlington HeightsCook County76,00566vs Plainfield
BolingbrookWill County74,09664vs Plainfield

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Plainfield

2 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
6054427,306$108,30470
6058525,960$155,51173