Best PlacesApple River, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Apple River, 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.
Apple River ranks 30,615th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Apple River
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.
Apple River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Apple River ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 76% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 74% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 73% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 71% of towns
Where Apple River ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Apple River
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Apple River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,153, 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 Apple River's effective rate of 1.33%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Apple River
Apple River 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 Apple River.
Who works in Apple River, and how
Work in Apple River centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Apple River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Apple River.
What the weather is like in Apple River, month by month
Apple River sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 15° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Apple River
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Apple River
Schools across Apple River average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stockton Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Warren Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Scales Mound Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lena-winslow Jr High SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Scales Mound Jr High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Scales Mound High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Stockton Sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Apple River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Apple River 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 Apple River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Apple River
Is Apple River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Apple River ranks 30,615th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, an educated workforce, and a strong job market, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Apple River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,745. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $84,153 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Apple River safe?
Apple River is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
Compare Apple River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Apple River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Apple River 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.
Apple River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Apple River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Apple River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Apple River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Apple River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Apple River 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.