Best PlacesEffingham County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Effingham County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Effingham County ranks 1,384th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State finances pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on short commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Effingham 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.
The best areas in Effingham County
The parts of Effingham County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Teutopolis
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Altamont
Effingham
Fewer households have young kids and crime runs higher.
Scores across Effingham County run from about the 10th to the 76th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Effingham County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Effingham County ranks high
- Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
- TransitBetter than 82% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Effingham County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Effingham County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Effingham County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,009, 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 Effingham County's effective rate of 1.41%, 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 Effingham County
Effingham County'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 Effingham County.
Who works in Effingham County, and how
Work in Effingham County 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 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Effingham County
Effingham County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Effingham County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Effingham County growing, and who is moving in?
Effingham County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cumberland County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Effingham County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Effingham County, month by month
Effingham County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Effingham County
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Effingham County
Schools across Effingham County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Teutopolis Grade SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Dieterich Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Beecher City Grade SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Teutopolis Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Effingham Junior High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- St Elmo Jr High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Teutopolis High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Dieterich Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Effingham High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Effingham County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Effingham 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 Effingham County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Effingham County suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 81%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Effingham County
Is Effingham County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Effingham County ranks 1,384th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, civic engagement, and transit, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Effingham County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,969. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $83,009 median income, cost of living beats 80% of counties.
Is Effingham County safe?
Yes, Effingham County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $208 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Effingham County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 25. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Effingham County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Teutopolis, Altamont, and Effingham. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Effingham County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Effingham County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Effingham 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.
Effingham County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Effingham County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Effingham County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Effingham County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Effingham County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Effingham 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.