Best PlacesFairview Heights, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fairview Heights, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fairview Heights ranks 24,071st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fairview Heights
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.
Fairview Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Fairview Heights ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
Where Fairview Heights ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fairview Heights
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fairview Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,250, 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 Fairview Heights' effective rate of 1.78%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fairview Heights
Fairview Heights'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 Fairview Heights.
Who works in Fairview Heights, and how
Work in Fairview Heights centers on health care & social and retail trade. 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 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fairview Heights
Fairview Heights has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fairview Heights and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fairview Heights, month by month
Fairview Heights sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Fairview Heights
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 23 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fairview Heights
Schools across Fairview Heights average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Marie Schaefer Elem SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Wolf Branch Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Illini Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wolf Branch Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Fulton Jr High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Pontiac Jr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- O Fallon High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Belleville High School-eastC− · 27% proficient
- Belleville High School-westD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fairview Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fairview Heights 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 Fairview Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fairview Heights
Is Fairview Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fairview Heights ranks 24,071st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and fast internet, and lowest on taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fairview Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,190. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $83,250 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Fairview Heights safe?
Fairview Heights is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
Compare Fairview Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fairview Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fairview Heights 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.
Fairview Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fairview Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fairview Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fairview Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fairview Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fairview Heights 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.