Best PlacesBerger, Dolton, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Berger, Dolton, 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.
Berger, Dolton ranks 5,777th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Property taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in Berger, Dolton
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.
Berger, Dolton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Berger, Dolton ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Berger, Dolton ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- School gradeF, better than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Berger, Dolton
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Berger, Dolton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,834, 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 Berger, Dolton's effective rate of 2.97%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Berger, Dolton
Berger, Dolton runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Berger, Dolton.
Who works in Berger, Dolton, and how
Work in Berger, Dolton centers on transportation & warehousing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Berger, Dolton
Berger, Dolton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Berger, Dolton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Berger, Dolton, month by month
Berger, Dolton sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Berger, Dolton
Chicago Midway International sits about 14 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Berger, Dolton
Schools across Berger, Dolton average an F, better than 4% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Berger-vandenberg Elem SchoolF · 6% proficient
- New Beginnings Learning AcademyF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- S T E M AcademyF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Thornwood High SchoolF · 9% proficient
- Thornridge High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Berger, Dolton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Berger, Dolton 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 Berger, Dolton against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Berger, Dolton
Is Berger, Dolton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Berger, Dolton ranks 5,777th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, low disaster risk, and state infrastructure, and lowest on property 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 Berger, Dolton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,582. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $56,834 median income, cost of living beats 25% of neighborhoods.
Is Berger, Dolton safe?
Berger, Dolton is safer than 13% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $622 per resident a year.
Compare Berger, Dolton with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Berger, Dolton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Berger, Dolton 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.
Berger, Dolton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Berger, Dolton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Berger, Dolton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Berger, Dolton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Berger, Dolton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Berger, Dolton 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.