Best PlacesFreeport, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Freeport, 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.
Freeport ranks 1,924th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Freeport
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.
Freeport's strengths and weaknesses
Where Freeport ranks high
- Short commute17.1 minutes each way, better than 96% of cities
- Cheap childcare$673 a month, better than 90% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 78% of cities
- QuietBetter than 75% of cities
Where Freeport ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 1% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Freeport
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Freeport home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,852, 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 Freeport's effective rate of 2.32%, 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 Freeport
Freeport runs older than the country, 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 Freeport.
Who works in Freeport, and how
Work in Freeport centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Freeport
Freeport has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Freeport and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Freeport, month by month
Freeport sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Freeport
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Freeport
Schools across Freeport average a D−, better than 1% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Eastland Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Lena-winslow Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Orangeville Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lena-winslow Jr High SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Pecatonica Comm Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Orangeville Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Dakota Jr Sr High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Eastland Jr/sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Orangeville High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Freeport school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Freeport 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 Freeport against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Freeport suits
Common questions about living in Freeport
Is Freeport a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Freeport ranks 1,924th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the schools and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Freeport expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $111,849. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $59,852 median income, cost of living beats 15% of cities.
Is Freeport safe?
Freeport is safer than 32% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Freeport?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 16. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of cities.
Is Freeport good for families?
Schools beat 1% of cities, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $673 a month.
Compare Freeport with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Freeport. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Freeport 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.
Freeport detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Freeport: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Freeport: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Freeport: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Freeport: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Freeport 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.