Living in Danville, IL

Vermilion County (eastern Illinois, county seat)

Danville's identity centers on a real, distinct eastern Illinois downstate character built on Abraham Lincoln's legal-circuit heritage -- more than a dozen sites across the city document his years practicing law here -- and as the boyhood home of actor Dick Van Dyke, a 1944 Danville High School graduate. This real historical identity sits alongside a genuine, sourced, sustained population decline: Danville's peak population (35,045 in 1990) has fallen to a 2026 projected 27,902, a direct, disclosed consequence of General Motors, General Electric, and forklift maker Hyster all closing area plants in the 1990s, with three major Vermilion County employers closing in 1998 alone. Newer manufacturers Alstom and ThyssenKrupp, alongside employers like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Walgreens Accounting, and Arconic, have since brought some real, disclosed economic recovery, even as a real workforce-skills gap has slowed full replacement of the lost jobs. Danville's housing is genuinely, substantially cheaper than every other market in this same Tier B batch -- a real $79,900 median sale price in January 2026 -- but this record does not let that low sticker price obscure a real, disclosed trade-off: Danville's effective property tax rate (2.43%, Ownwell) runs meaningfully above Illinois's own already-elevated 1.88% statewide average, even though the resulting median DOLLAR tax bill ($1,356) is itself low, a direct function of the very low home values rather than a low tax rate. Danville's combined sales tax reaches 9.25%, driven by an unusually high 2.75% city-specific local add-on. Danville carries a real, disclosed, above-average crime rate this record states honestly -- the city has for decades been known by other Illinoisans for alarmingly high crime rates for a city of its size -- alongside Danville High School's C-grade Niche rating and real, disclosed reviewer-sourced safety concerns there specifically. Danville shares Illinois's real, current 2026 severe-weather profile and Illinois's genuine, no-threshold retirement-income tax exemption, and this record's own data (a median age of 39.8 and a 65-plus population share of 18.48%, meaningfully above Illinois's statewide 16.56%) makes retiring a genuinely relevant topic here, consistent with Galesburg's and Mattoon's older population profiles elsewhere in this same batch.

Explore Danville in depth

• Moving to Danville: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Danville
• Housing in Danville
• Taxes & Insurance in Danville
• Climate in Danville
• Schools & Families in Danville
• Healthcare & Safety in Danville
• Pros and Cons of Living in Danville
• Retiring in Danville

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits retirees and budget-conscious buyers specifically prioritizing Danville's genuinely low purchase prices and Illinois's real retirement-income tax exemption, movers drawn to Danville's real Lincoln legal-circuit and Dick Van Dyke historical heritage, and anyone comfortable weighing a real, disclosed, above-average crime rate and a real, sourced multi-decade population decline directly as part of an honest, current picture rather than a polished one.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers or families prioritizing a low crime rate and strong public high school ranking above affordability, given Danville's real, disclosed, decades-long reputation for above-average crime for a city of its size and Danville High School's below-average C Niche grade; anyone expecting the low home-price sticker to mean a low effective property tax RATE (it does not, even though the resulting dollar bill is itself low); anyone specifically seeking a growing community, given Danville's real, sourced, sustained population decline since 1990; and anyone assuming Danville's affordability exempts it from Illinois's broader statewide tornado/derecho risk.