Living in Paw Paw, IL
Paw Paw is a tiny town of 932 people in Lee County, Illinois. It's about 40 miles from Rockford, IL and 68 miles from Chicago, IL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 82°F and winter highs 28°F, with about 30 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $154k and rent runs about $920 a month.
932people
$154kTypical home
$920/moRent
82° / 28°Summer / winter
30"Snow
224Sunny days
110Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Tiny town of 932
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 1,556 people per sq mi
- 68 mi to Chicago, IL
- 40 mi to Rockford, IL
- 20 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $154k (≈$970/mo)
- Median rent $920/mo
- Median household income $65k
- Property tax about 1.9% of value
- 5.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 82°F
- Winter highs around 28°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
- 110 days a year with rain or snow
- 30" of snow a year
- 12 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 34 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Very low violent crime (97 per 100k), county-wide
- Very low property crime (266 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 41
- 20% of households have kids
- 22% are 65 or older
- 15% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 4% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 35 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 36 mi to RFD airport
- 59 mi to ORD (major hub)
- 12 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 83% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1962
- 90% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 942 ft
- 654 mi to the ocean
- 70 mi to a big lake
- 26 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 45 mi to the nearest ski area
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 12 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 125 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 52 bars within 25 mi
- 16 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 10 museums within 25 mi
- 2 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 32 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 19% of Illinois districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 11 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 19 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 12 mi to the nearest vet
- 16 mi to the nearest dog park
- 9 congregations per 10k people
- 20 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Lee County: R+22 in 2024
- Illinois: D+11 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk