Best PlacesChannel Lake, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Channel Lake, 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.
Channel Lake ranks 15,110th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Channel Lake
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.
Channel Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Channel Lake ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- Household income$99,750 median, better than 84% of towns
Where Channel Lake ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,267 a month, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Channel Lake
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Channel Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,750, 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 Channel Lake's effective rate of 2.43%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Channel Lake
Channel Lake runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Channel Lake.
Who works in Channel Lake, and how
Work in Channel Lake centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Channel Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Channel Lake.
What the weather is like in Channel Lake, month by month
Channel Lake sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Channel Lake
General Mitchell International sits about 35 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Channel Lake
Schools across Channel Lake average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Richmond Grade SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Grass Lake Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nippersink Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Antioch Upper Grade SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Stanton SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Richmond-burton High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Antioch Comm High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Grant Community High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Channel Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Channel Lake 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 Channel Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Channel Lake
Is Channel Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Channel Lake ranks 15,110th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, big-city access, and low disaster risk, 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 Channel Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $218,200. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $99,750 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Channel Lake safe?
Yes, Channel Lake is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare Channel Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Channel Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Channel Lake 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.
Channel Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Channel Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Channel Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Channel Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Channel Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Channel Lake 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.