Best PlacesDakota, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dakota, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dakota ranks 20,346th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Property taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low crime.
The best neighborhoods in Dakota
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.
Dakota's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dakota ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Dakota ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dakota
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dakota home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,719, 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 Dakota's effective rate of 1.96%, 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 Dakota
Dakota'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 Dakota.
Who works in Dakota, and how
Work in Dakota centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Dakota
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dakota.
What the weather is like in Dakota, month by month
Dakota sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Dakota
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dakota
Schools across Dakota average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Orangeville Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Dakota Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Orangeville Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Dakota Jr Sr High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Orangeville High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dakota school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dakota 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 Dakota against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dakota
Is Dakota a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dakota ranks 20,346th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, big-city access, and civic engagement, 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 Dakota expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,036. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $78,719 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Dakota safe?
Yes, Dakota is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $144 per resident a year.
Compare Dakota with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dakota. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dakota 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.
Dakota detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dakota: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dakota: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dakota: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dakota: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dakota 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.