Best Places62949, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 62949, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
62949 ranks 31,134th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Noise pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in 62949
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
62949's strengths and weaknesses
Where 62949 ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 76% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 68% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 62% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 62% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 60% of zip codes
Where 62949 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Household income$47,778 median, better than only 9% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 62949
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 62949 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,778, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 62949's effective rate of 1.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 62949
62949 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 62949.
Who works in 62949, and how
Work in 62949 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 62949
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 62949.
What the weather is like in 62949, month by month
62949 sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 62949
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around 62949
Schools across 62949 average a D+, better than 14% of zip codes.
Top middle schools
- Herrin Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Herrin High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 62949 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
62949 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 62949 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 62949
Is 62949 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 62949 ranks 31,134th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 62949 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $75,000. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $47,778 median income, cost of living beats 14% of zip codes.
Is 62949 safe?
Yes, 62949 is safer than 68% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $198 per resident a year.
Compare 62949 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 62949. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 62949 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
62949 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 62949: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 62949: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 62949: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 62949: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
62949 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.