Best PlacesAdams County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Adams County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Adams County ranks 1,428th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Adams County
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.
Adams County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Adams County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 91% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Adams County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Adams County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Adams County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,167, 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 Adams County's effective rate of 1.47%, 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 Adams County
Adams County 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 Adams County.
Who works in Adams County, and how
Work in Adams County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Adams County
Adams County has more parkland per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Adams County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Adams County growing, and who is moving in?
Adams County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pike County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Adams County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Adams County, month by month
Adams County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Adams County
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Adams County
Schools across Adams County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Liberty Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Colonel George Iles Elem SchC− · 29% proficient
- Lincoln-douglas Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Quincy Jr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Western Jr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Central Junior High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Liberty High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Quincy Sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Central High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Adams County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Adams County 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 Adams County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Adams County suits
Families
Schools land around the 14th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Common questions about living in Adams County
Is Adams County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Adams County ranks 1,428th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low disaster risk, and short commutes, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Adams County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,693. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $71,167 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Adams County safe?
Yes, Adams County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Adams County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 21. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of counties.
Is Adams County good for families?
Schools beat 14% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $832 a month.
Compare Adams County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Adams County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Adams County 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.
Adams County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Adams County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Adams County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Adams County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Adams County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Adams County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.