Best PlacesDixon, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dixon, 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.
Dixon ranks 25,084th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dixon
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.
Dixon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dixon ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of towns
Where Dixon ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dixon
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dixon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,592, 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 Dixon's effective rate of 1.85%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dixon
Dixon runs older than the country, 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 Dixon.
Who works in Dixon, and how
Work in Dixon centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dixon
Dixon has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dixon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dixon, month by month
Dixon sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Dixon
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dixon
Schools across Dixon average a D, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Amboy Central Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Centennial Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Oregon Elem SchD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Aplington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Challand Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Reagan Middle SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Rock Falls Township High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Dixon High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Sterling High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dixon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dixon 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 Dixon against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Dixon suits
Families
Schools land around the 11th percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Dixon
Is Dixon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dixon ranks 25,084th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, walkability, and biking, 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 Dixon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,649. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,592 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Dixon safe?
Yes, Dixon is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dixon?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 17. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of towns.
Is Dixon good for families?
Schools beat 11% of towns, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $1,049 a month.
Compare Dixon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dixon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dixon 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.
Dixon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dixon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dixon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dixon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dixon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dixon 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.