Best PlacesFarina, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Farina, 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.
Farina ranks 45,772nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Noise pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Farina
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.
Farina's strengths and weaknesses
Where Farina ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- BikingBetter than 76% of towns
Where Farina ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Farina
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Farina home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,217, 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 Farina's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Farina
Farina runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Farina.
Who works in Farina, and how
Work in Farina centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Farina
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Farina.
What the weather is like in Farina, month by month
Farina sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Farina
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Farina
Schools across Farina average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Altamont Grade SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- St Elmo Elem SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- North Clay Elem/jr High SchD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Central Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- St Elmo Jr High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Altamont High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- South Central High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- North Clay Community High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Farina school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Farina 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 Farina against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Farina
Is Farina a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Farina ranks 45,772nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, a stable housing market, and walkability, and lowest on noise and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Farina expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $106,310. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $55,217 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Farina safe?
Farina is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
Compare Farina with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Farina. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Farina 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.
Farina detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Farina: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Farina: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Farina: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Farina: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Farina 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.