Best PlacesColes County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Coles County, 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.
Coles County ranks 2,062nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State finances pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Coles 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.
Coles County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Coles County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of counties
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of counties
- TransitBetter than 84% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Coles 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
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Coles County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Coles County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,883, 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 Coles County's effective rate of 1.79%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Coles County
Coles County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Coles County.
Who works in Coles County, and how
Work in Coles County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Coles County
Coles County has more parkland per resident than 75% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 75% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Coles County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Coles County growing, and who is moving in?
Coles County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Coles County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Coles County, month by month
Coles County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Coles County
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Coles County
Schools across Coles County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Arthur Grade SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Sullivan Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Monroe Elem SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mattoon Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Jefferson Elem SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Sullivan Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Arthur-lovington-atwood-hammondD+ · 25% proficient
- Casey-westfield Jr/sr HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Sullivan High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Coles County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Coles 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 Coles County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Coles County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Coles County
Is Coles County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Coles County ranks 2,062nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, short commutes, and walkability, 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 Coles County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $145,433. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $63,883 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Coles County safe?
Coles County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Coles County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 23. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of counties.
Is Coles County good for families?
Schools beat 7% of counties, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $771 a month.
Compare Coles County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Coles County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Coles 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.
Coles County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Coles County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Coles County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Coles County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Coles County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Coles 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.