Plainfield

Plainfield is the fast-growing Will County village west of Joliet and southwest of Naperville, with a small historic downtown on Lockport Street that predates the 1990s subdivisions surrounding it by 150 years. The village grew from about 4,500 people in 1990 to more than 45,000 today, and the schools grew with it: Plainfield District 202 now runs four high schools. Lockport Street’s brick storefronts hold restaurants, a brewery and the village’s festivals, and the DuPage River runs along its east edge. It is a family town that still remembers being a farm town.

Where it is

On the map, Plainfield sits along Route 59 and Route 126 between Naperville, Joliet and Oswego, with the downtown at Lockport Street and Route 59, and subdivisions stretching west past Route 30 and south to Joliet. There is no Metra station; commuters drive to the Route 59 BNSF stop in Aurora/Naperville or to Joliet, or take I-55 from the Route 126 exit. Route 59, Route 30 and 127th Street are the main roads. The Loop is an hour or more by car.

What to know if you’re moving here

Plainfield sells new houses, good schools and lower Will County taxes, and asks for a long commute in return.

• Housing is subdivisions built mostly since the 1990s, plus older houses near downtown, with typical prices of roughly $300,000 to $700,000 as a broad editorial estimate as of September 2026.
• Parking is driveways and garages, with free lots downtown.
• Public schools are Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, with Plainfield North, South, East and Central high schools.
• Will County property taxes apply, and newer subdivisions often carry homeowners association fees on top.
• No train means a drive to Route 59 or Joliet for Metra, and Route 59 traffic is the daily complaint.
• The drawback is distance: the Loop is an hour-plus, and most jobs and errands are in Naperville or Joliet.

What to do if you’re visiting

Downtown Lockport Street is the walk, a few blocks long, and the rest is parks by car.

• Live music on Lockport Street runs through Uptown Plainfield, which books bands on Saturdays, hosts an open jam on Thursdays and serves burgers and thin-crust pizza on a beer garden patio.
• Two storefronts side by side cover coffee and lunch: Krema Coffee House, the 2017 original of a four-shop roaster, and Dario Mercato, a Roman pizzeria that bakes rectangular pies with flour imported from Italy.
• A block west, Wine and Cheese Co. has stocked lesser-known wines and small-production cheeses on Lockport Street for more than 20 years and opens a wine garden with live music in summer.
• The village’s brewery, Garage Band Brewing, pours its own beers in a dog-friendly taproom on Des Plaines Street a block off the main drag.
• Weddings and big parties in town tend to land at Warehouse:109, a converted warehouse on Center Street with a garden, courtyard and library room.
• The Riverfront and Settlers’ Park along the DuPage River have trails and the village’s summer concerts, and Lake Renwick Preserve on Renwick Road is a Forest Preserve District of Will County heron rookery with viewing areas in season.