Best PlacesChapin, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chapin, 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.
Chapin ranks 32,330th 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 Chapin
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.
Chapin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chapin ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
Where Chapin ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chapin
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chapin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,241, 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 Chapin's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chapin
Chapin'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 Chapin.
Who works in Chapin, and how
Work in Chapin 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Chapin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Chapin.
What the weather is like in Chapin, month by month
Chapin sees roughly 58 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 Chapin
The nearest airport, Abraham Lincoln Capital, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chapin
Schools across Chapin average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Triopia Grade SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Bluffs Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- North Jacksonville SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacksonville Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Bluffs Junior High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Meredosia-chambersburg Jr HighF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Meredosia-chambersburg High SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Triopia Jr-sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Jacksonville High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chapin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chapin 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 Chapin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chapin
Is Chapin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chapin ranks 32,330th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, cell coverage, and a strong job market, 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 Chapin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,047. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $70,241 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Chapin safe?
Yes, Chapin is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
Compare Chapin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chapin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chapin 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.
Chapin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chapin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chapin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chapin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chapin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chapin 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.