Best PlacesAkin, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Akin, 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.
Akin ranks 44,020th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Akin
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.
Akin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Akin ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 64% of towns
Where Akin ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Akin
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Akin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,749, 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 Akin's effective rate of 1.37%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Akin
Akin 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 Akin.
Who works in Akin, and how
Work in Akin centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Akin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Akin.
What the weather is like in Akin, month by month
Akin sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 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° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Akin
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Akin
Schools across Akin average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Akin Comm Cons Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Benton Grade Sch K-4D+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benton Grade Sch 5-8D− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Benton Cons High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Akin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Akin 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 Akin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Akin
Is Akin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Akin ranks 44,020th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Akin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,977. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $55,749 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Akin safe?
Yes, Akin is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare Akin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Akin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Akin 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.
Akin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Akin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Akin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Akin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Akin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Akin 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.