Best PlacesCarol Stream, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carol Stream, 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.
Carol Stream ranks 648th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Carol Stream
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.
Carol Stream's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carol Stream ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of cities
- BikingBetter than 88% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of cities
Where Carol Stream ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,560 a month, better than only 11% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Carol Stream
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carol Stream home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $110,187, 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 Carol Stream's effective rate of 2.27%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carol Stream
Carol Stream'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 Carol Stream.
Who works in Carol Stream, and how
Work in Carol Stream centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Carol Stream
Carol Stream has more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Carol Stream and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Carol Stream, month by month
Carol Stream sees roughly 98 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 Carol Stream
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 12 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 Carol Stream
Schools across Carol Stream average a C, better than 29% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Roy De Shane Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Washington Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Pleasant Hill Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hadley Junior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Benjamin Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Monroe Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Glenbard West High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Wheaton North High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Glenbard North High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carol Stream school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carol Stream 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 Carol Stream against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Carol Stream suits
Families
Schools land around the 29th percentile and crime safety beats 59%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of cities and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 59% of cities, health care access beats 64%, and it is quieter than 84%.
Common questions about living in Carol Stream
Is Carol Stream a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carol Stream ranks 648th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, cell coverage, and biking, 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 Carol Stream expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,504. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $110,187 median income, cost of living beats 70% of cities.
Is Carol Stream safe?
Yes, Carol Stream is safer than 59% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carol Stream?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 18. That works out to about 98 pleasant days a year, more than 59% of cities.
Is Carol Stream good for families?
Schools beat 29% of cities, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,560 a month.
Compare Carol Stream with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carol Stream. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carol Stream 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.
Carol Stream detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carol Stream: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carol Stream: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carol Stream: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carol Stream: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carol Stream 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.