Richton Park is a village and south suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

, United States. The population was 12,775 at the 2020 census.

History

Richton Park sits along the

Sauk Trail The Sauk Trail was originally a Native American trail running through what are present-day Illinois, Indiana and Michigan in the United States. From west to east, the trail ran from Rock Island on the Mississippi River to the Illinois River near ...

, a major trail used by the several Native American tribes for travel. By the 1840s German migrants settled in the area and created a small farming community. The village was named after a Richton in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, the native home of a first settler. On the evening of June 7, 2008, an EF2 tornado went through portions of Richton Park, damaging homes and businesses.

Geography

Richton Park is located at (41.481992, -87.725352). The village is bordered by Matteson to the north, Park Forest to the east, and University Park to the south. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Richton Park has a total area of , of which (or 99.73%) is land and (or 0.27%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 12,775 people, 5,244 households, and 3,298 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 5,487 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 6.64%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 86.61%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 1.80% from other races, and 3.87% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.24% of the population. There were 5,244 households, out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.78% were married couples living together, 20.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.11% were non-families. 35.87% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.24% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.32 and the average family size was 2.52. The village's age distribution consisted of 19.6% under the age of 18, 14.8% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 32% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $63,777, and the median income for a family was $82,208. Males had a median income of $49,393 versus $43,399 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $28,756. About 8.3% of families and 11.4% 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 ...

, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 25.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Matteson School District 162 is headquartered in Richton Park and serves portions of the village. *Richton Square Schoo

*Sauk Elementary Schoo

Elementary School District 159 serves portions of Richton Park. *Neil A. Armstrong Schoo

Rich Township High School District 227, Rich Township High School Fine Arts and Communications Campus 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.

Transportation

The Richton Park station provides

Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...

commuter rail service along the

Metra Electric District The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...

. Trains travel north to

Millennium station Millennium Station, (previously known as Randolph Street Terminal and occasionally referred to as Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a commuter rail terminal located in the Chicago Loop, Loop area of Chicago, do ...

in Chicago, and south to

University Park station University Park is a station on Metra's Metra Electric District line located in University Park, Illinois. University Park is the southern terminus of the Metra Electric main line and is away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station ...

Notable places

* Rich City Skate (Formerly Olympic Skate World) - Featured in the HBO documentary United Skates, 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. It stretches south from Chicago's Kenwood community area through portions of the city's South Side and southern suburbs, extending into several m ...

References

External links

Village of Richton Park official website

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