Best PlacesBethalto, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bethalto, 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.
Bethalto ranks 24,614th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bethalto
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.
Bethalto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bethalto ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
Where Bethalto ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bethalto
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bethalto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,195, 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 Bethalto's effective rate of 1.88%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bethalto
Bethalto's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Bethalto.
Who works in Bethalto, and how
Work in Bethalto centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bethalto
Bethalto has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bethalto and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bethalto, month by month
Bethalto sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Bethalto
St Louis Lambert International sits about 21 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.5 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bethalto
Schools across Bethalto average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Worden Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Parkside Primary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Wilbur Trimpe Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Roxana Junior High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Alton High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Civic Memorial High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Roxana Sr High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bethalto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bethalto 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 Bethalto against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bethalto
Is Bethalto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bethalto ranks 24,614th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and walkability, 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 Bethalto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,835. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,195 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Bethalto safe?
Bethalto is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
Compare Bethalto with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bethalto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bethalto 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.
Bethalto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bethalto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bethalto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bethalto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bethalto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bethalto 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.