Richton Park is a village and a southern suburb of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The population was 12,775 at the 2020 census. The community was named after a Richton in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, the native home of a first settler.

Geography

Richton Park is located at (41.481992, -87.725352). The village is bordered by

Matteson Matteson may refer to: Places * Matteson, Illinois * Matteson, Wisconsin * Matteson Township, Michigan Others * Matteson (surname) * Matteson (Metra), railway station in Illinois, United States * Matteson M-1 The Matteson M-1 was an Amer ...

to the north, Park Forest to the east, and University Park to the south. According to the 2010 census, Richton Park has a total area of , of which (or 99.7%) is land and (or 0.3%) is water.

Tornado

On Saturday June 7, 2008, an

EF2 Elongation factors are a set of proteins that function at the ribosome, during protein synthesis, to facilitate translational elongation from the formation of the first to the last peptide bond of a growing polypeptide. Most common elongation ...

tornado went through Richton Park around 6:00pm. The tornado tore apart the Richton Square Apartments damaging 40 units and leaving at least 80 residents homeless. Some commercial properties along Sauk Trail were also heavily damaged. The tornado continued northeast through Park Forest before dissipating near the intersection of Lincoln highway and Western avenue.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2010 Census

As of the 2010

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, there were 13,646 people, 5,391 households, and 2.54 persons living per household. The population density was according to 2010 census. There were 4,730 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 82.4%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 12.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.1% Native American, 1.0%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

and 2.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 3.5% of the population. According to 2000 census data, there were 12,581 people, 4,578 households, out of which 39.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 18.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.25. The 2010 Census estimated the population was spread out, with 34.3% under the age of 18 and 8.6% of persons 65 years and over. These estimates were a change from those of 2000, with 28.8% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age in 2000 was 33 years. In 2010, 54.7% of the village was female persons. In 2010-2014, the median household income was $54,887, an increase from the 2000 Census estimate of $48,299, and the median income for a family was $58,661. In 2000, males had a median income of $44,637 versus $35,231 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village in 2010-2014 was $26,566. In 2000, about 4.2% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Matteson School District 162 is headquartered in Richton Park and serves as the primary district.Home page
. Matteson School District 162. Retrieved on December 8, 2012. "4601 Sauk Trail, Richton Park, IL 60471" *Richton Square Scho

*Sauk Elementary Scho

*Illinois Elementary Scho

*Matteson Elementary Scho

*O.W. Huth Middle Scho

Elementary School District 159 Elementary School District 159 (ESD 159), also known as Matteson School District 159, is a school district headquartered in Matteson, Illinois near Chicago, United States. The district serves portions of Matteson, Richton Park, Frankfort, and T ...

serves portions of Richton Park. *Neil A. Armstrong Scho

*Colin Powell Middle Schoo

*Marya Yates Elementary Scho

*Sieden Prairie Elementary Scho

*Woodgate Elementary Scho

Rich Township High School District 227, Rich Township High School and Southland College Preparatory Charter High School are the two public high schools that serve Richton Park, both schools are located in the village. The Richton Park Public Library District has served the village since 1972.

Notable places

* Rich City Skate (Formerly Olympic Skate World) - Featured in the HBO documentary

United Skates ''United Skates'' is a 2019 Emmy nominated documentary film directed by Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown about African American roller skating culture. The film was Executive Produced by John Legend and features Salt-N-Pepa, Coolio and Naughty By Na ...

, highlighting African American roller skating rinks.

Government

Richton Park is in

Illinois's 2nd congressional district Illinois's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. Based in the south suburbs of Chicago, the district includes southern Cook county, eastern Will county, and Kankakee county, as well as the city o ...

References

External links

Village of Richton Park official website

Richton Park Public Library District
{{authority control Villages in Illinois Villages in Cook County, Illinois Chicago metropolitan area Majority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, Illinois