Best PlacesBasco, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Basco, 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.
Basco ranks 36,361st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Basco
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.
Basco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Basco ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 75% of towns
- QuietBetter than 73% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 73% of towns
Where Basco ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Basco
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Basco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,182, 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 Basco's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Basco
Basco 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 Basco.
Who works in Basco, and how
Work in Basco centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Basco
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Basco.
What the weather is like in Basco, month by month
Basco sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Basco
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Basco
Schools across Basco average a D+, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hamilton Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Southeastern Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Carthage Primary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carthage Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Warsaw Sr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Illini West High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Hamilton High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Basco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Basco 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 Basco against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Basco
Is Basco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Basco ranks 36,361st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state infrastructure, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Basco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,515. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $72,182 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Basco safe?
Basco is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
Compare Basco with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Basco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Basco 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.
Basco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Basco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Basco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Basco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Basco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Basco 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.