Best PlacesEvanston, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Evanston, 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.
Evanston ranks 519th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Evanston
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 Evanston
The parts of Evanston, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Central Street Merchant District
South Evanston
Downtown
Scores across Evanston run from about the 21st to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Evanston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Evanston ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of cities
- TransitBetter than 99% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of cities
Where Evanston ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Evanston
A household needs to earn about $152,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Evanston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $109,362, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Evanston's effective rate of 1.79%, 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 Evanston
Evanston's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Evanston.
Who works in Evanston, and how
Work in Evanston centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 44%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 28%
Life in Evanston
Evanston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Evanston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Evanston, month by month
Evanston sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Evanston
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 12 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 Evanston
Schools across Evanston average a C+, better than 40% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Orrington Elem SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Dewey Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Lincolnwood Elem SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nichols Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Oliver Mccracken Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Haven Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Evanston Twp High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Niles North High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Evanston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Evanston 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 Evanston against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Evanston suits
Common questions about living in Evanston
Is Evanston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Evanston ranks 519th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on crime and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Evanston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $512,567. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $109,362 median income, cost of living beats 63% of cities.
Is Evanston safe?
Evanston is safer than 5% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $444 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Evanston?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 21. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Evanston?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Central Street Merchant District, South Evanston, and Downtown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Evanston with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Evanston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Evanston 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.
Evanston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Evanston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Evanston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Evanston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Evanston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Evanston 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.