Best PlacesElmhurst, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elmhurst, 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.
Elmhurst ranks 408th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elmhurst
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.
Elmhurst's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elmhurst ranks high
- Household income$154,868 median, better than 92% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of cities
Where Elmhurst ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 52 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 5% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,559 a month, better than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Elmhurst
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elmhurst home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $154,868; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Elmhurst's effective rate of 1.74%, 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 Elmhurst
Elmhurst runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elmhurst.
Who works in Elmhurst, and how
Work in Elmhurst centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Elmhurst
Elmhurst has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Elmhurst and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elmhurst, month by month
Elmhurst sees roughly 52 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Elmhurst
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 6 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Elmhurst
Schools across Elmhurst average a B, better than 58% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hawthorne Elem SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Field Elem SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Jefferson Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sandburg Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Bryan Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Jackson Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- York Comm High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Proviso Math And Science AcademyB− · 45% proficient
- Willowbrook High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elmhurst school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elmhurst 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 Elmhurst against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Elmhurst suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Elmhurst
Is Elmhurst a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elmhurst ranks 408th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on high incomes, an educated workforce, and population health, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elmhurst expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $563,726. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $154,868 median income, cost of living beats 89% of cities.
Is Elmhurst safe?
Elmhurst is safer than 44% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elmhurst?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 19. That works out to about 52 pleasant days a year, more than 0% of cities.
Is Elmhurst good for families?
Schools beat 58% of cities, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $1,559 a month.
Compare Elmhurst with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elmhurst. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elmhurst 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.
Elmhurst detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elmhurst: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elmhurst: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elmhurst: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elmhurst: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elmhurst 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.