Best PlacesBluff City, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bluff City, 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.
Bluff City ranks 44,796th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bluff City
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.
Bluff City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bluff City ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 71% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 62% of towns
Where Bluff City ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bluff City
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bluff City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,022, 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 Bluff City's effective rate of 1.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Bluff City
Bluff City 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 Bluff City.
Who works in Bluff City, and how
Work in Bluff City centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Bluff City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bluff City.
What the weather is like in Bluff City, month by month
Bluff City sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Bluff City
The nearest airport, Abraham Lincoln Capital, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bluff City
Schools across Bluff City average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Webster Elem SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Astoria Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Central Elem SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Astoria Junior High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Rushville-industry High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Astoria High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Lewistown Jr/sr High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bluff City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bluff City 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 Bluff City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bluff City
Is Bluff City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bluff City ranks 44,796th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, quiet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bluff City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $106,694. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,022 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Bluff City safe?
Bluff City is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare Bluff City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bluff City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bluff City 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.
Bluff City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bluff City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bluff City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bluff City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bluff City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bluff City 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.