Best PlacesCarroll County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carroll County, 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.
Carroll County ranks 2,637th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State finances pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in Carroll County
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.
Carroll County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carroll County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 68% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 61% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 60% of counties
Where Carroll County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carroll County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carroll County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,952, 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 Carroll County's effective rate of 1.80%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carroll County
Carroll County 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 Carroll County.
Who works in Carroll County, and how
Work in Carroll County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Carroll County
Carroll County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties and more parkland per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Carroll County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carroll County growing, and who is moving in?
Carroll County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carroll County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carroll County, month by month
Carroll County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Carroll County
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carroll County
Schools across Carroll County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eastland Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Chadwick-milledgeville Elem SchC+ · 38% proficient
- Pearl City Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pearl City Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
- West Carroll Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastland Jr/sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Chadwick-milledgeville Jr HsC · 33% proficient
- Pearl City High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carroll County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carroll County 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 Carroll County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Carroll County
Is Carroll County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carroll County ranks 2,637th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, state infrastructure, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carroll County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,995. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $63,952 median income, cost of living beats 35% of counties.
Is Carroll County safe?
Carroll County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
Compare Carroll County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carroll County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carroll County 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.
Carroll County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carroll County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carroll County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carroll County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carroll County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carroll County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.