Best PlacesBatavia, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Batavia, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Batavia ranks 333rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Batavia
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.
Batavia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Batavia ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of cities
Where Batavia ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,381 a month, better than only 23% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Batavia
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Batavia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $134,822, 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 Batavia's effective rate of 2.26%, 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 Batavia
Batavia runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Batavia.
Who works in Batavia, and how
Work in Batavia centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Batavia
Batavia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Batavia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Batavia, month by month
Batavia sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Batavia
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 23 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Batavia
Schools across Batavia average a B−, better than 47% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Gwendolyn Brooks ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Fabyan Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Nancy Young Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Francis Granger Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Sam Rotolo Middle SchB− · 41% proficient
- Geneva Middle Sch NorthC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Geneva Community High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Metea Valley High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Batavia Sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Batavia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Batavia 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 Batavia against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Batavia suits
Families
Schools land around the 47th percentile and crime safety beats 79%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of cities, health care access beats 82%, and it is quieter than 80%.
Common questions about living in Batavia
Is Batavia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Batavia ranks 333rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, civic engagement, and low disaster risk, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Batavia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $410,284. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $134,822 median income, cost of living beats 88% of cities.
Is Batavia safe?
Yes, Batavia is safer than 79% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Batavia?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 18. That works out to about 96 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of cities.
Is Batavia good for families?
Schools beat 47% of cities, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $1,381 a month.
Compare Batavia with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Batavia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Batavia 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.
Batavia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Batavia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Batavia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Batavia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Batavia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Batavia 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.