Best PlacesEdwards County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Edwards County, 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.
Edwards County ranks 2,211th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Edwards 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.
Edwards County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Edwards County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of counties
- QuietBetter than 79% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 66% of counties
Where Edwards County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Edwards County
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Edwards County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,343, 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 Edwards County's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Edwards County
Edwards County 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 Edwards County.
Who works in Edwards County, and how
Work in Edwards County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Edwards County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Edwards County.
Is Edwards County growing, and who is moving in?
Edwards County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Wayne County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Edwards County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Edwards County, month by month
Edwards County sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Edwards County
The nearest airport, Evansville Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Edwards County
Schools across Edwards County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Albion Grade SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- West Salem Grade SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Wells Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Edwards County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Edwards County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Edwards 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 Edwards County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Edwards County
Is Edwards County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Edwards County ranks 2,211th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and quiet, and lowest on state finances and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Edwards County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,228. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $59,343 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Edwards County safe?
Yes, Edwards County is safer than 59% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Edwards County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Edwards County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Edwards 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.
Edwards County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Edwards County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Edwards County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Edwards County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Edwards County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Edwards 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.