Living in Ottawa, IL
Ottawa is a small city of 18,447 people in LaSalle County, Illinois. It's about 53 miles from Kankakee, IL and 68 miles from Chicago, IL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 84°F and winter highs 31°F, with about 25 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $154k and rent runs about $920 a month.
18,447people
$154kTypical home
$920/moRent
84° / 31°Summer / winter
25"Snow
224Sunny days
131Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small city of 18,447
- Its own small hub, not a suburb
- About 1,238 people per sq mi
- 68 mi to Chicago, IL
- 53 mi to Kankakee, IL
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $154k (≈$971/mo)
- Median rent $920/mo
- Median household income $71k
- Property tax about 2.6% of value
- 7.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 84°F
- Winter highs around 31°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 63°F)
- 224 sunny days a year (79 totally clear)
- 141 cloudy days a year
- 47 of 90 winter days are gray
- 131 days a year with rain or snow
- 25" of snow a year
- 10 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 26 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Low violent crime (240 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,229 per 100k)
People
- Median age 40
- 33% of households have kids
- 17% are 65 or older
- 23% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 3% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 24 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 60 mi to RFD airport
- 63 mi to MDW (major hub)
- 20 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 79% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1958
- 84% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 492 ft
- 640 mi to the ocean
- 71 mi to a big lake
- 7 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 55 mi to the nearest ski area
- 7 mi to the nearest campground
- 19 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 149 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 75 bars within 25 mi
- 19 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 7 museums within 25 mi
- 1 brewery or distillery within 25 mi
- 33 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 47% of Illinois districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 17 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 20 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 14 mi to the nearest dog park
- 7 congregations per 10k people
- 37 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- LaSalle County: R+19 in 2024
- Illinois: D+11 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk