Best PlacesEast Peoria, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Peoria, 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.
East Peoria ranks 24,623rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Peoria
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.
East Peoria's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Peoria ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of towns
Where East Peoria 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
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Peoria
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Peoria home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,544, 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 East Peoria's effective rate of 2.10%, 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 East Peoria
East Peoria 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 East Peoria.
Who works in East Peoria, and how
Work in East Peoria 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 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in East Peoria
East Peoria has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of East Peoria and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Peoria, month by month
East Peoria sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of East Peoria
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Peoria
Schools across East Peoria average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Primary SchA− · 60% proficient
- Lettie Brown Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- P L Bolin Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Reservoir Gifted SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Germantown Hills Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Central Intermediate SchA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Morton High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Metamora High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Washington Comm High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Peoria school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Peoria 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 East Peoria against the other 50,332 towns.
Who East Peoria suits
Families
Schools land around the 12th percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in East Peoria
Is East Peoria a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Peoria ranks 24,623rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and short commutes, 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 East Peoria expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,763. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $83,544 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is East Peoria safe?
Yes, East Peoria is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in East Peoria?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 18. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of towns.
Is East Peoria good for families?
Schools beat 12% of towns, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $1,094 a month.
Compare East Peoria with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Peoria. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Peoria 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.
East Peoria detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Peoria: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Peoria: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Peoria: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Peoria: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Peoria 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.