Best PlacesClare, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clare, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clare ranks 13,507th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clare
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.
Clare's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clare ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$107,847 median, better than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
Where Clare ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clare
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clare home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,847, 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 Clare's effective rate of 2.12%, 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 Clare
Clare runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clare.
Who works in Clare, and how
Work in Clare centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clare
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clare.
What the weather is like in Clare, month by month
Clare sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Clare
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clare
Schools across Clare average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Creston Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Hiawatha Elem Sch Prek-5C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sycamore Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Huntley Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
- Clinton Rosette Middle SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Sycamore High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Dekalb High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Rochelle Twp High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clare school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clare 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 Clare against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clare
Is Clare a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clare ranks 13,507th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, big-city access, and high incomes, 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 Clare expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $292,844. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $107,847 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Clare safe?
Clare is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $249 per resident a year.
Compare Clare with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clare. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clare 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.
Clare detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clare: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clare: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clare: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clare: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clare 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.