Best PlacesFairbury, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fairbury, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fairbury ranks 9,336th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fairbury
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.
Fairbury's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fairbury ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute15.8 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Fairbury ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fairbury
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fairbury home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,323, 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 Fairbury's effective rate of 1.89%, 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 Fairbury
Fairbury runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fairbury.
Who works in Fairbury, and how
Work in Fairbury centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fairbury
Fairbury has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Fairbury and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fairbury, month by month
Fairbury sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Fairbury
The nearest airport, Central Il Regional/Bloomington- Normal, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fairbury
Schools across Fairbury average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Central Elem SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Gcms Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Saunemin Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prairie Central Upper ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Gcms Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Prairie Central Jr High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Gcms High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Pontiac High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Prairie Central High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fairbury school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fairbury 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 Fairbury against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fairbury
Is Fairbury a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fairbury ranks 9,336th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, civic engagement, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fairbury expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,618. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,323 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Fairbury safe?
Yes, Fairbury is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare Fairbury with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fairbury. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fairbury 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.
Fairbury detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fairbury: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fairbury: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fairbury: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fairbury: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fairbury 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.