Best PlacesEdwards, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Edwards, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Edwards ranks 3,342nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Edwards
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' strengths and weaknesses
Where Edwards ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$150,418 median, better than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
Where Edwards ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% 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
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Edwards
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Edwards home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $150,418, 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' effective rate of 2.46%, 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 10 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
Edwards'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 Edwards.
Who works in Edwards, and how
Work in Edwards centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Edwards
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Edwards.
What the weather is like in Edwards, month by month
Edwards 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 Edwards
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 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Edwards
Schools across Edwards average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dunlap Grade SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Ridgeview Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Wilder-waite Grade SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dunlap Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Dunlap Valley Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Elmwood Junior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Dunlap High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Brimfield High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Elmwood High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Edwards school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Edwards 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Edwards
Is Edwards a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Edwards ranks 3,342nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, 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 Edwards expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $323,607. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $150,418 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Edwards safe?
Yes, Edwards is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
Compare Edwards with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Edwards. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Edwards 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Edwards: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Edwards: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Edwards: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Edwards: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Edwards 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.