Best PlacesCook County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cook County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cook County ranks 725th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $93,925, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state finances, taxes, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Cook 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.
The best areas in Cook County
The parts of Cook County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Skokie, Evanston & Wilmette
More adults hold degrees, streets are more walkable, and incomes run higher.
Chicago
Transit reaches more jobs, though fewer households have young kids.
Des Plaines, Arlington Heights & Schaumburg
Crime runs lower and local pay stretches further.
Berwyn, Oak Park & Elmwood Park
Scores close to Des Plaines, Arlington Heights & Schaumburg, except that prices have run up more here.
Orland Park, Tinley Park & Lemont
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Oak Lawn, Oak Forest & Burbank
Homes cost less and fewer homes sit empty.
Cicero
Health care is harder to reach.
Calumet City, Lansing & Chicago Heights
Health outcomes score lower and commutes are longer.
Cook County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Cook County's strengths and weaknesses
Cook County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Walkability is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Biking and transit follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Cook County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
Where Cook County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cook County
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cook County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,925, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Cook County's effective rate of 1.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cook County
Cook County'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 Cook County.
Who works in Cook County, and how
Work in Cook County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Cook County
Cook County has more late-night spots per resident than 82% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cook County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cook County growing, and who is moving in?
Cook County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Chicago, IL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cook County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cook County, month by month
Cook County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Cook County
Chicago Midway International sits about 6 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Cook County
Schools across Cook County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Skinner North Elem SchA+ · 87% proficient
- Edison Elem Regional Gifted CntrA+ · 83% proficient
- Keller Elem Gifted Magnet SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carleton W Washburne SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Wood Oaks Jr High SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Maple SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Payton College Preparatory HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Northside College Preparatory HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Jones College Prep High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cook County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cook 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 Cook County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cook County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Cook County
Is Cook County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cook County ranks 725th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and transit, 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 Cook County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $364,788. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $93,925 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Cook County safe?
Cook County is safer than 9% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $468 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cook County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 22. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cook County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Skokie, Evanston & Wilmette, Chicago, and Des Plaines, Arlington Heights & Schaumburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Cook County good for families?
Schools beat 34% of counties, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $1,105 a month.
Is Cook County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 73% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Cook County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cook County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cook 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.
Cook County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cook County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cook County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cook County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cook County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cook 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.