Best PlacesBlack, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black, 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.
Black ranks 35,132nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Black
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.
Black's strengths and weaknesses
Where Black ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 67% of towns
Where Black ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,155, 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 Black's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 Black
Black's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Black.
Who works in Black, and how
Work in Black centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Black
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Black.
What the weather is like in Black, month by month
Black sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Black
The nearest airport, Evansville Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Black
Schools across Black average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Albion Grade SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Mount Erie Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- West Salem Grade SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Center Street Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Cisne Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Edwards County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Cisne High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Fairfield Comm High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black 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 Black against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black
Is Black a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black ranks 35,132nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and state infrastructure, 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 Black expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $119,829. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $58,155 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Black safe?
Black is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
Compare Black with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black 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.
Black detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black 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.