Best PlacesFord County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ford County, 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.
Ford County ranks 1,838th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ford County
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.
Ford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ford County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of counties
Where Ford County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ford County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,200, 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 Ford County's effective rate of 1.85%, 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 Ford County
Ford County'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 Ford County.
Who works in Ford County, and how
Work in Ford County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ford County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ford County.
Is Ford County growing, and who is moving in?
Ford County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Champaign, IL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ford County, month by month
Ford County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Ford County
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ford County
Schools across Ford County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Iroquois West Elem School/gilmanA− · 60% proficient
- Clara Peterson Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Iroquois West Elem Sch/thawvilleD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paxton-buckley-loda Jr High SchC+ · 37% proficient
- Gcms Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Tri-point Jr High/elementaryD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Gcms High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Paxton-buckley-loda High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Ridgeview High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ford County 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 Ford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ford County
Is Ford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ford County ranks 1,838th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,816. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $66,200 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Ford County safe?
Ford County is safer than 45% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
Compare Ford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ford County 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.
Ford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ford County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.